The Bank of Albania revoked the licenses of 83 currency exchange offices during 2025 following inspections that uncovered regulatory violations and financial irregularities related to cash circulation.

According to the central bank, the inspections revealed shortcomings in customer identification procedures, transaction monitoring, screening against sanctions lists, and the reporting of foreign exchange transactions.

As a result, the number of licensed currency exchange offices declined from 642 to 592 by the end of 2025, marking the lowest level since 2022.

Supervision of exchange offices was intensified throughout the year due to the sector’s high exposure to cash transactions and its direct interaction with the public. According to the 2025 Annual Supervision Report, administrative measures were imposed on 201 exchange offices, one office received a formal warning, while 83 had their licenses revoked.

During the same period, 33 new exchange offices were licensed, resulting in a net decrease of 50 businesses, or approximately 8%, compared to the end of 2024.

This marked the first significant decline after years of steady expansion, with the number of exchange offices having increased almost continuously from 397 in 2015 to a record high of 642 in 2024.

The report identifies key supervisory findings related to deficiencies in implementing customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence measures. In several cases, businesses lacked centralized systems for collecting and analyzing customer data, while weaknesses were also found in documenting customer screening against international sanctions lists.

The report further highlights shortcomings in record-keeping practices and identifies deficiencies in assessing and verifying the source of customers’ funds.