Representatives of the Council of Europe recommend that the President of Ukraine not sign bill No. 15111-d adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in its current wording due to amendments in the financial monitoring of former politically exposed persons (PEPs), MP of the Servant of the People faction Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk reported on Tuesday.
"Representatives of the Council of Europe, with whom I spoke during this discussion, clearly advise against giving the green light to departing from a risk-based approach to the financial monitoring of PEPs and call on the president not to sign this law in its current form," she wrote on Telegram.
According to her assessment, the adopted amendments weaken control over the financial and property transactions of former PEPs, and the provisions of the bill violate Ukrainian legislation in the field of financial monitoring and do not comply with FATF standards and EU directives.
Vsylevska-Smahliuk called the wording of the bill regarding enhanced monitoring after a person ceases to perform public functions vague and believes that it weakens the risk-based approach.
The bill also classifies heads of structural divisions of the National Bank below the board level and employees of state-owned banks responsible for financial monitoring as national PEPs.
She noted that the regulator opposed such amendments due to the risk of a conflict of interest, since a bank employee responsible for financial monitoring would themselves be subject to the procedures whose execution they control.
According to the State Financial Monitoring Service data cited by the MP, in 2021 financial monitoring subjects submitted 25,000 reports on suspicious transactions of PEPs, and for the first half of 2026 – 13,500.
Until May 2026, nine refusals of service were recorded: four regarding PEPs, three regarding members of their families, and two regarding associated persons.
According to the MP, NBU representatives stated during the discussion that the regulator had not received complaints about groundless refusals of service to PEPs and called allegations of their discrimination artificial and not backed by official appeals.
Vsylevska-Smahliuk also believes that departing from current standards could negatively affect Ukraine's assessment by the FATF and the process of joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
She recalled that EU Regulation 2024/1624 on anti-money laundering will start to apply from July 10, 2027, so deviations from European requirements will eventually have to be eliminated within tight deadlines.
As reported, on June 9, the Verkhovna Rada adopted bill No. 15111-d, which provides for mandatory enhanced financial monitoring of former PEPs for 12 months after they cease to perform public functions. After the expiry of this period, enhanced measures can be extended only in the presence of a justified and documented high risk. On June 12, the law was sent to the president for signature.
