Bulgaria — Country Risk Report

Bulgaria (Europe • Eastern Europe). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

High country risk, with elevated corruption risk. Bulgaria's country risk score is 6.0/10, placing it in the high-risk band. The principal driver is weak corruption, alongside rule of law and institutions risk. Bulgaria is subject to FATF increased monitoring. Bulgaria is not subject to comprehensive country-wide sanctions. Firms should apply additional scrutiny where exposure involves state-linked entities, restricted sectors, sensitive technology, dual-use goods or politically exposed counterparties.

Recommended treatment

Enhanced due diligence.

At a glance

  • FATF status: Grey list (one indicator only; it does not set the overall country risk rating by itself)
  • Comprehensive country sanctions: none identified. Targeted sanctions exposure: possible, screen applicable persons, entities and sectors
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 4.4/10
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 40/100, rank #84 of 182
  • Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

Country Risk Score: 6.0/10 (High)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Full information available. Strong data coverage. Enforcement activity and CPI are shown for context but do not change the score.

All three parts of the score are available.

How this score was calculated

  • Financial crime controls: 6.4/10 — 50% of this score
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 4.4/10 — 30% of this score
  • International sanctions: 0.0/10 — 20% of this score
  • FATF grey-list status means the score cannot be lower than 6.0. This minimum set the final score.

International sanctions contributes 0.0 because the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level sanctions programme. People or organisations connected to the country may still appear on sanctions lists.

Show the exact calculation

aml 6.4 × 50% + governance 4.4 × 30% + sanctions 0 × 20% = 4.5; fatf-grey floor 6 applied; final 6

Principal risk drivers

  • FATF increased-monitoring status
  • Corruption (WGI) — 5.7/10

Mitigating factors

  • No comprehensive country-wide sanctions programme.
  • Comparatively stronger political stability (3.3/10).
  • Risk is concentrated in specific counterparties, sectors and transactions rather than applying uniformly.

Business impact

  • Customer onboarding (High): Additional ownership and control verification may be required.
  • Payments and transactions (High): Review transaction purpose, counterparties and geographic routing.
  • Trade and export activity (High): Screen goods, end users and potential dual-use exposure.
  • Corporate clients (High): Assess state ownership, government links and political exposure.
  • Ongoing monitoring (High): Apply alerts for ownership changes, sanctions and geopolitical developments.

Recommended controls

  • Verify ultimate beneficial ownership using more than one reliable source.
  • Identify state ownership, government influence and politically exposed persons.
  • Screen entities, directors and beneficial owners against applicable sanctions lists.
  • Apply enhanced review to technology, defence, telecommunications, financial services and dual-use activity.
  • Document transaction purpose and source of funds where cross-border structures are complex.
  • Escalate unresolved ownership opacity or adverse information to Compliance.

Enhanced due diligence triggers

  • State ownership / control
  • PEP involvement
  • Sensitive / restricted sectors
  • Opaque ownership
  • Adverse media
  • Dual-use goods & technology
  • High-risk intermediary routing

FATF status: Grey list

Jurisdiction Under Increased Monitoring. Last reviewed 19 Jun 2026; next FATF plenary Oct 2026.

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

  • UN: No
  • EU: No
  • UK: No
  • US: No

No means the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level programme. People or organisations may still appear on sanctions lists.

Government effectiveness and rule of law (World Bank 2024, percentile)

  • Government Effectiveness: 52/100
  • Regulatory Quality: 59/100
  • Rule of Law: 56/100

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

FATF network via MONEYVAL.

Last mutual evaluation: 2022 · report

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

FIU: Egmont Group member (FID-SANS)

Framework signals

  • FATF listing: Grey list
  • International sanctions: no listed programme identified
  • BO register: Public (live since 2019)
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 40/100, rank #84 of 182
  • Rule of law (WGI): 4.4/10 risk

Sector exposure

  • Banking & payments (Elevated): FATF grey-list status elevates correspondent-banking risk
  • Trade & export controls (Low): No sanctions programme or FATF black-list constraint identified
  • Crypto & virtual assets (Elevated): FATF grey-list VASP supervision gaps raise virtual-asset risk
  • Real estate & luxury assets (Low): Corruption indicators within normal range for high-value assets
  • State-linked & procurement (Low): Political-stability and corruption governance within normal range

Derived from sanctions tier, FATF listing, World Bank WGI governance and CPI; no per-sector dataset is asserted.

Bulgaria: analysis

Bulgaria combines a weak governance profile with current FATF grey listing; the country is subject to FATF increased monitoring, last reviewed at the June 2026 plenary. Corruption at an elevated level is the weakest governance domain, materially above the level for comparable EU member states. Rule of law and institutions and voice and accountability also present elevated readings. Political stability is comparatively stronger. Bulgaria carries no sanctions exposure. The CPI reading is the weakest among the EU-member countries in this batch.

Outlook

Bulgaria's grey-list status means FATF will continue to assess its progress against an agreed action plan. The next scheduled plenary is October 2026. Improvement in rule-of-law and anti-corruption infrastructure will be prerequisites for removal from increased monitoring. Firms should maintain heightened scrutiny of Bulgarian counterparties and monitor FATF communications for progress updates.

Key watchpoints

  • Monitor FATF plenary outcomes and progress reports for updates on Bulgaria's grey-list status and action plan delivery.
  • Maintain enhanced due diligence for transactions and relationships with a Bulgarian nexus.
  • Track domestic anti-corruption reforms, including judicial independence and law enforcement capacity.
  • Review annual CPI updates, which may signal whether governance conditions are improving or deteriorating.

Assessment currency

  • FATF status: Increased monitoring (as of 19 Jun 2026)
  • Sanctions exposure: None identified (as of Jul 2026)
  • Governance (WGI): Latest dataset incorporated (as of 2024)
  • Corruption (CPI): 40/100 (as of 2025)
  • RegActions assessment: Reviewed (as of 19 Jun 2026)

Public evidence layer

FATF action: increased monitoring. FATF identifies the jurisdiction as under increased monitoring; apply the firm's risk-based controls and monitor remediation progress.

Contextual signals (not scored)

  • FATF network membership: FATF regional network: MONEYVAL (present, as of 2026-07)
  • EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Not listed in Annex I (absent, as of 2026-02-17)
  • Egmont Group FIU: FID-SANS (present, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Beneficial-ownership register: Public (live since 2019) (present, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Transparency International CPI: 40/100, rank 84 (present, as of 2025)

Evidence freshness

  • FATF monitored-jurisdiction status: current; data 2026-06-19
  • FATF mutual evaluation and follow-up ratings: current; data 2026-07-31; follow-up 2026-06; base assessment 2022-07
  • World Bank governance indicators: current; data 2024
  • UN, UK, EU and US sanctions regimes: current; data 2026-08-13

Contextual signals are public evidence only and do not change the immutable v2 score.

Download evidence PDF · CSV · JSON

Regional peer scores

FAQ

Is Bulgaria on the FATF grey list?

Yes. As of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary, Bulgaria is on the FATF grey list (Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring). This is one AML indicator and does not by itself set Bulgaria's overall country risk rating. The next FATF plenary review is scheduled for Oct 2026.

Is Bulgaria subject to sanctions?

No country-level programme was identified. In the approved RegActions snapshot, no comprehensive or targeted country-wide sanctions programme was found for Bulgaria, but individual listed persons may still exist, so firms should continue to screen counterparties against the applicable lists.

What is Bulgaria's country risk rating?

RegActions rates Bulgaria at 6.0/10 (High risk), where a higher score means higher country risk. The score combines financial crime controls, government effectiveness and rule of law, and international sanctions. Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index scores Bulgaria 40/100 (rank #84 of 182).

What due diligence applies to Bulgaria?

Enhanced due diligence. This is decision-support based on Bulgaria's FATF grey list status, governance and sanctions signals, and is not a substitute for a firm's own risk assessment.

Source: FATF black & grey lists · World Bank WGI (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank WGI) · TI CPI (CC BY-ND 4.0 — Transparency International, display only)