Outcomes of the 41st EAG Plenary meeting

General information about the EAG Plenary Meeting

The 41^st Plenary Meeting and Working Group meetings of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) were held in Indore (Republic of India) on November 25-29, 2024. The meetings were attended by the representatives of all EAG Member States, the FATF Secretariat and FATF-style regional bodies (MENAFATF, ESAAMLG) as well as the following observers and invited delegations: Republic of Armenia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, United States of America, CIS ATC, CIS CH FIU, CIS Executive Committee, EADB, EEC, IMF, NDB, SCO, Republic of Azerbaijan, Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

The Plenary was chaired by the EAG Chairman Mr. Yury Chikhanchin (Russian Federation) and the EAG Deputy Chairman Mr. Shamsiddin Sohibnazarov (Republic of Uzbekistan).

The welcoming speeches to the Plenary on behalf of the Republic of India were given by Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, Revenue, Government of India, Shri Pankaj Choudhary, Honorable Minister of State (Finance), Government of India and Mangubhai C. Patel, Honorable Governor, Madhya Pradesh.

Key issues and the most important decisions of the Plenary Meeting

The Plenary heard and adopted the Mutual Evaluation Report of the Republic of India conducted jointly with the FATF and APG. The report was discussed at the FATF Plenary meeting in June of this year. Based on the outcome of the evaluation, the Republic of India is placed in the FATF regular follow-up procedure and will report back to the Plenary in three years.

The Plenary also heard and approved 6^th enhanced follow-up report of the Republic of Tajikistan's with re-ratings of Recommendations 8 and 38. The report will be published on the EAG website after passing the quality and consistency procedure of the FATF Global network.

The Plenary approved the amendments to the EAG Procedures for conducting the third round of mutual evaluations of the national AML/CFT/CPF systems of the EAG Member States and monitoring their progress.

The Plenary received information on the implementation of the voluntary tax compliance program of the Kyrgyz Republic and on measures taken to prevent the program from being used for criminal purposes. The delegations agreed to take into account the updated analysis. The Kyrgyz Republic will provide a report on the implementation of the program at the 42^nd Plenary Meeting.

The Plenary heard an overview of the monitoring of the operational environment in the EAG Member States in relation to emerging ML/TF risks for 2024. The analysis shows that the ML/TF threats, vulnerabilities and risks identified by Member States in 2024, in general, reflect the results of the First Round of Risk Assessment in the Eurasian region (a summary is available on the public section of the EAG website). Money laundering is increasingly carried out using multi-level schemes, including those involving professional money launderers which use cryptocurrencies and payment details of front persons – “mules” – and continue to use cash. In the area of terrorist financing, schemes using cryptocurrency exchanges, including foreign ones, and cryptocurrency wallets, which are opened mainly in the name of front persons, are also gaining popularity. Based on the outcomes of the discussion, delegations were invited to use the results of the analysis in assessing national risks and developing measures for national AML/CFT/CPF systems. It was decided that the mechanism should be adapted to monitor the dynamics of ML/TF risks identified in the course of the supranational EAG risk assessment.

The Plenary endorsed topics for typologies projects in 2025. Project concept notes on “Current methods of use of bank payment cards by non-residents in money laundering schemes” and “Profiles of financial behavior of criminals” will be submitted for consideration by the 42^nd Plenary.

The Plenary approved the final results of the project entitled “Monitoring the risks of use of virtual assets for criminal purposes”. The project assessed the development of the virtual assets industry, classified risks, predicate offences related to the use of virtual assets for ML/TF, vulnerabilities and threats of intensive development of the virtual currencies industry, analysed best practices of the EAG Member States and observers. Recommendations for representatives of competent authorities and the private sector to prevent the use of virtual assets for criminal purposes were presented.

The Plenary approved the Work Plan of the Association of Press Services of Financial Intelligence Units of the EAG Member States for 2025-2026. The document, in particular envisages engaging with the journalist community (in order to strengthen the credibility of the EAG and its Member States, popularise the topic of financial security). The interaction with the expert community to improve the efficiency of the Association members' activities and to broadcast positive experience in the functioning of national AML systems in the Eurasian region, the creation of the Association's own Internet resources to ensure systematic work and the possibility of constant objective information to the public are also included into the document.

Other issues

The Plenary approved the application of the United Arab Emirates for the EAG observer status. The Plenary noted the importance of engagement with the UAE and expressed hope for fruitful cooperation.

The Plenary heard regular update on the current results of the implementation of the Plan (Roadmap) on mitigating regional ML/TF risks in the Eurasian region, as well as on the results of the first phase of the research on the development of an information bulletin on the activities of terrorist groups in the Eurasian region, interim results of the development of a document regulating the procedure for conducting joint international financial investigations, a mechanism to improve the effectiveness of national anti-money laundering systems on the problem of asset recovery.

The Plenary heard the national experience of the Republic of India in the AML/CFT/CPF, the brief review of Uzbekistan's competent authorities' activities in preparation for the third round of EAG mutual evaluations and the Republic of Uzbekistan’s best practices on strengthening scientific and educational capacity in AML/CFT. Besides, the delegations of Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan reported to the Plenary the information about the progress in AML/CFT/CPF area.

Report on the projects of the International Training and Methodological Centre for Financial Monitoring was also heard at the Plenary Meeting. The role of ITMCFM as a leading donor and provider in the implementation of TA project plans for the EAG Member States was emphasized.

The Plenary heard interventions of the observers, thanked for the experience presented and expressed the hope for further cooperation. The Plenary welcomed the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran to improve the national AML/CFT system and decided to provide Iran with technical assistance in relation to the submission of its progress report to the FATF International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) and to assist Iran in removing from the list of FATF high-risk jurisdictions.

The Plenary welcomed the outcomes of EAG/APG Workshop on innovation in the financial sector and EAG Workshop on the risk assessment of legal persons and arrangements, that took place during the 41^th Plenary Week.

The annual Contest for the best cooperation between the competent authorities in the field of AML/CFT was held as part of the Plenary Meeting. The 11^th Contest's winner was Russian Federation, and its laureates were Republic of Belarus and People’s Republic of China.

An Awarding ceremony of the winners of the competition among compliance officers of financial institutions of EAG Member States for the best financial analysis in the field of AML/CFT took place during the Plenary Meeting. The crypto exchange “ATAIX Eurasia Ltd” (Republic of Kazakhstan) was declared as the winner of the Contest, JSCB “Rysgal” (Turkmenistan) and “International Bank of Tajikistan” (Republic of Tajikistan) were its laureates. PJSC “Rosbank” (Russian Federation) received the winner of the audience sympathy prize.

The Plenary was briefed on the implementation of the International Financial Security Movement initiative, the outcomes of the 4^th International Financial Security Olympiad, which took place from May to October 2024 at the initiative of the Russian Federation, which had provided the organisation and coordination of the participants of the Olympiad, and its financing, and the International Financial Security Forum “Sirius-2024”. The Plenum expressed its support for further development of the International Financial Security movement.

The Plenary expressed gratitude to the Republic of India for hosting the 41^st EAG Plenary Meeting and working group meetings, as well as for the high level of organization.

The 42^nd EAG Plenary Meeting will be held in the Russian Federation from 26 to 30 May 2025.

EAG Secretariat