Kazakhstan signed the EAG Agreement

On 4 July 2011 the Head of the Department on Financial Monitoring of the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan Musirali Utebaev signed the EAG Agreement.

The Agreement approves the status of the Group as an intergovernmental organization, which operates on the principles of equal participation of member states in the activities of the EAG. The procedure improves the level of responsibility of members of the Eurasian group and will contribute to their further integration into the international efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism,as wella s in the activities of the FATF.

On June 16 the EAG Agreement was signed by Belarus, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The procedure took place in the framework of the 14th EAG Plenary meeting which was held in Moscow from 16 to 17 June 2011. The procedure of signing was conducted by the EAG Chairman Oleg Markov.On behalf of the Russian Federation the Agreement was signed by the Head of the Federal service for financial monitoring Yuri Chikhanchin.

Subsequently, India is planning to join to the Agreement. The signing of the Agreement is a new stage in the development of the Eurasian group that can contribute to its further expansion.

The Agreement is of particular relevance because of the decisions that were made at the FATF Plenary meeting in Mexico, where the issues of interaction with the FATF-style regional bodies (FSRB) were discussed. With the goal to strengthen international cooperation in the field of AML/CFT the FATF plans to develop additional requirements to FSRBs in the framework of the special Working group in the activities of which the EAG will also take part.