Authorities remove 83 currency shop licenses

Albanian authorities have shut down 83 currency exchange shops for letting anonymous cash move through their registers and ignoring international sanction lists.

The central bank stripped their licenses after inspectors caught businesses failing to check customer identities, hide transaction records, or track where traded money originated.

Physical cash shops operate on almost every street corner in Albania, making them a primary target for criminals looking to launder money.

Regulators punished more than 200 other businesses in the nationwide crackdown, driving the total number of licensed shops down for the first time in ten years.