High level EAG Mission to Turkmenistan took place in April 2009

The Mission, which comprised the heads of the Belarusian, Kyrgyz, Russian and Uzbek FIUs as well as representatives of the Chinese FIU and the US Treasury Department, took place on April 28-29, 2009.

The Mission, which comprised the heads of the Belarusian, Kyrgyz, Russian and Uzbek FIUs as well as representatives of the Chinese FIU and the US Treasury Department, took place on April 28-29, 2009.

The mission was headed by Valeriy Yaroshevsky, the EAG Deputy Chairman and Director of the Financial Monitoring Department of the State Control Committee of Belarus.

The mission was prompted by the close attention of the international financial community to Turkmenistan’s progress in creating a national AML/CFT system. In this connection the FATF issued a number of statements calling upon Turkmenistan to introduce a comprehensive anti-money laundering system.

The FATF Plenary in February 2009 pointed out that although Turkmenistan is implementing initiatives to establish a national AML/CFT system, the steps undertaken to date are not sufficient to remove this country from enhanced scrutiny. With the backing of the Russian delegation, EAG representatives succeeded in persuading the FATF not to impose sanctions against Turkmenistan. 

Ranking mission participants were received by Turkmenistan Deputy Prime Minister Tuvakmammed Dzhaparov. Meetings were also held with members of Parliament, leadership of the Foreign Ministry, the General Prosecutor’s Office, and Central Bank of Turkmenistan. At the close of the mission, Turkmenistan confirmed its willingness to step up efforts to introduce a national anti-money laundering system in keeping with the requirements of international standards. A key step along these lines should be adoption of basic AML/CFT legislation.

“Turkmenistan is open to cooperation in combating money laundering and terrorist financing and is taking whatever steps are necessary to adopt legislation and create a national system in this area,” Mr. Dzhaparov stressed.

Russia expressed willingness to support the efforts of Turkmenistan, which is Russia’s EAG partner, and offer it the necessary advisory assistance.

According to information supplied by the Central Bank of Turkmenistan, current Turkmen banking laws contain requirements to identify bank customers and introduce an internal control system at banks to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, with the customers required to disclose the source of funds where the transfer amount exceeds the equivalent of 5,000 dollars US. To quote Turkmenistan Central Bank Chairman of the Board Guvanchmurad Geoklenov, “In accordance with national laws and international standards, banks must check customers against UN lists of individuals implicated in terrorist activity. The Central Bank of Turkmenistan is inspecting banks for compliance with these requirements and making sure transactions are transparent”. 

Ranking mission participants were pleased to note the positive dynamics in the development of the national AML/CFT system and expressed hope for the soonest possible adoption of the basic AML/CFT law.

Delegation head Valeriy Yaroshevsky discussed the mission findings: “Information we obtained on our visit to Turkmenistan will be reported to the FATF. We believe that this information will largely mitigate the international community’s position on the anti-money laundering regime in Turkmenistan”.