About the results of the workshop-training for assessors (practitioners) of the Eurasian group on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism (EAG) member-states

A workshop-training on "Assessing the effectiveness, experience and best practices of ML investigation in the Eurasian region" was held in the city of Tashkent (Republic of Uzbekistan) from 11 to 15 November 2019. Together with the EAG and the General's Prosecutor Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the workshop was organized by the OSCE, UNODC and the ITMCMF.

The workshop - training was organized to improve the interaction of prosecutors and investigators with other participants of the AML/CFT system, to identify effective investigation mechanisms, as well as to select specialists interested to participate in the mutual evaluation.

The workshop - training was attended by prosecutors - practitioners and investigators from the EAG member states, as well as representatives of the FIU. International specialists interested in participating in the upcoming mutual evaluations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, had the opportunity to undergo appropriate training and obtain certificates of assessors.

Mr. Rakhimov D.F., the Director of the Department for combating economic crimes under the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan, addressed the participants and called for systematic organization of work on strengthening national AML/CFT systems of the EAG member states.

At the same time, Mr. Ulrich Im, representative of the OSCE Project Co-ordination Office in Uzbekistan, Mrs. Ashita Mittal, Head of the UNODC Regional Office in Uzbekistan, and Mr.  Teterukov S.A., the Executive Secretary of the EAG, made speeches at the opening ceremony.

It was noted that increasing the human resources potential of the staff of the target agencies in the AML/CFT field through the cooperation of specialized international organizations, is a fundamental basis for further strengthening of the anti-laundering systems of the Eurasian region.

The workshop-training provided participants with an opportunity to become familiar with specific tools and techniques that can significantly increase the ability of law enforcement agencies to detect and prosecute money laundering. In particular, prosecutors and investigators had the opportunity to review ML cases and identify priority areas for investigation.

It should also be noted that in anticipation of the 2nd round of mutual evaluation of the national anti-money laundering system, there were several high-level meetings of the EAG Executive secretary with the representatives of the target agencies of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In particular, with the Deputy Minister of Finance, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, as well as the Deputy Prosecutor General.

The seminar was highly regarded by participants as an excellent platform for the exchange of best practices and information between law enforcement and financial intelligence units in the field of combating ML.

EAG Secretariat