OUTCOMES OF THE 42ND EAG PLENARY MEETING

 

General information about the EAG Plenary Meeting

On May 26-30, 2025 the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) held the meetings of the EAG Working Groups and the 42^nd Plenary Meeting in Moscow (Russian Federation). The representatives of all EAG Member States, the FATF Secretariat and FATF-style regional bodies (ESAAMLG, GIABA, MENAFATF) as well as the Observers and invited delegations of the Republic of Armenia, Islamic Republic of Iran, United Arab Emirates, African Export and Import Bank Group, BCBOP, CIS ATC, CIS CHFIU, CIS Executive Committee, CSTO, EDB, EEC, NDB, OSCE, SCO, UNODC, Arab Republic of Egypt, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Indonesia, State of Libya, State of Qatar, CIS CCPG, Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development and UNOCT participated in the meetings.

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

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr. Dmitry Chernyshenko, made welcoming remarks on behalf of the Russian Federation and read out the address to the Plenary participants by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. A welcome address to the delegates was also sent by Sergei Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

 

Key issues and the most important decisions of the Plenary Meeting

The Plenary heard and approved the Turkmenistan's 2nd Enhanced Follow-Up Report without re-rating under the 2nd Round of EAG Mutual Evaluations.

The Plenary agreed to the IMF-led mutual evaluation of the People's Republic of China in accordance with the FATF Plenary decision in February 2025 and approved the appropriate amendments to the sequencing of the 3rd round mutual evaluations of the EAG Member States.

The Member States delegations presented the measures on improvement of the national AML/CFT/CPF systems to the Plenary and took note of the templates of questionnaires and statistical tables required for mutual evaluations in preparation for the 3rd round of EAG mutual evaluations.

The Plenary approved the outcomes of the project on Improvement of Risk Assessment and Implementation of the Risk-based Monitoring over NPOs in the EAG Member States.

The Plenary received information on the implementation of the voluntary tax compliance program of the Kyrgyz Republic that expired on 31 December 2024, as well as information on the extension of the voluntary tax compliance program of the Republic of Tajikistan and on measures taken to prevent the program from being used for criminal purposes. The Plenary reiterated the compliance of Tajikistan's program with the four FATF Basic Principles.

The Plenary approved the results of typology projects on "The development of a document regulating the conduct of joint international financial investigations at the request of the parties" and "The development of criteria for identifying companies linked to ML or involved in predicate offences" and "Good practices for identifying money recovery lawsuits aimed at laundering the proceeds of crime". Member States will be able to strengthen their international cooperation in detecting and investigating ML/TF and predicate offences and enhance their ratings in mutual evaluations on international cooperation, ML/TF investigations and asset recovery by improving mechanisms for joint international financial investigations. The developed criteria for suspicious companies and good practices in identifying ML-related lawsuits will enable measures to be taken to minimise regional risks at the national level. The documents are open and to be published on the EAG website.

Delegations endorsed concept notes of the new typology projects on "Current methods of use of bank payment cards by non-residents in money laundering schemes" and "Profiles of financial behavior of criminals (money laundering and predicate crimes)". Delegations of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation will lead the projects.

The Plenary endorsed the topic “Best cooperation between the competent authorities in the AML/CFT field in detecting and suppressing ML and predicate offences committed by organized criminal groups or criminal organizations” for the Contest for the best cooperation between the competent authorities in the field of AML/CFT which is to be held in November 2025 during the 43^rd Plenary Session.

The Plenary noted the importance of strengthening the provision of technical assistance to the Kyrgyz Republic as the jurisdiction enters the period of active preparation for the 3rd round of the EAG Mutual Evaluations.

The Plenary approved the Regulation on the Journalist contest in the EAG Member States for the best story on the topic of financial security. Contest will be held annually in order to improve the interaction of the EAG Member States’ FIUs with the media and to create a positive image of FIUs and the Eurasian Group and the FATF Global Network as a whole in society, and to raise awareness on the topic of financial security.

The Plenary approved the EAG Budget for 2026 and the contributions of the Member States.

 

Other issues

The Plenary expressed their condolences in connection with terrorist attacks that had caused deaths and injuries also among civilians in Jammu & Kashmir on April 22.

The Plenary granted the EAG Observer status to the African Export and Import Bank Group. Delegations noted the importance of engagement with the African Export and Import Bank Group and expressed hope for fruitful cooperation.

The Plenary approved the concept of establishing the International Association of Training and Methodological Centres. The Association's activities will be aimed at creating conditions in the countries of the Eurasian region for the establishing a pool of national trainers, who will subsequently be independently engaged in training personnel for the needs of national AML/CFT systems, as well as the introduction of the practice of certification of international experts.

The Plenary approved the EAG Observer Policy which outlines the unified policy of the Eurasian Group on work with Observers and sets out the main goals, objectives and principles of interaction with Observers.

The Plenary took note of the ongoing results of the project on "Development of a mechanism to enhance the effectiveness of national anti-money laundering systems in asset recovery" as well as the projects of the International Training and Methodological Centre for Financial Monitoring. The role of ITMCFM as a leading donor and provider in the implementation of TA plans for EAG Member States was emphasized.

The Plenary listened to the presentations made by the Observers as well as invited countries and organisations (FATF, African Export and Import Bank Group, Arab Republic of Egypt, BCBOP, CIS ATC, CIS CHFIU, CIS Executive Committee, EEC, ESAAMLG, Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, GIABA, Islamic Republic of Iran, MENAFATF, NDB, OSCE, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Indonesia, SCO, United Arab Emirates, UNOCT) and thanked them for the experience shared and expressed the hope for further cooperation.

The Plenary took note on TA measures for the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to remove it from the FATF high-risk jurisdictions list and assigned to develop a TA Plan for Iran. The Plenary welcomed information about Iran's ratification of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, which is one of the steps to address strategic deficiencies in the Iran's AML/CFT system in accordance with the Action Plan developed by the FATF. Plenary called upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue taking concrete steps to complete the implementation of the Action Plan to address strategic deficiencies in the Iran's AML/CFT system, including ratification of CFT Convention.

On the sidelines of the plenary week, the joint forum of supervisory authorities and private sector under the auspices of the EAG and the MENAFATF "Risk management in the era of new technologies" was held. The event brought together leading supervisory experts and private sector specialists from the EAG and the MENAFATF member states, acting as a platform to exchange experience and ideas on the development of supervisory methodology and its effective implementation. It was noted that the outcomes of the Forum, reflected in the joint recommendations of the EAG and the MENAFATF, indicate a long-term and sustainable interest of their member states in building partnerships in the field of combating financial crime, and that the potential for such level of cooperation exists with other FSRBs.

The Plenary welcomed the outcomes of the IV Forum of Parliamentarians of the EAG Member States, where participants shared experiences on preparing for the upcoming round of mutual evaluations and legislative implementation of the revised FATF Recommendations, including in relation to the confiscation of proceeds of crime and property of equivalent value, and strengthening international cooperation on mutual legal assistance for the identification, confiscation, and recovery of criminal assets from abroad. On the outcome of the Forum, the participants approved the Declaration stating the importance of international cooperation between the competent authorities of the EAG Member States and the need to transform legislation to mitigate risks and implement the revised FATF Standards.

The Plenary also welcomed the outcomes of the Panel discussion on "Current Issues of Financial Security Coverage in the Eurasian Region" hosted within the 42nd Plenary Week. The implementation of this format of collaboration on a regular basis has been approved.

The Plenary was briefed on the outcomes of the Round table on “The significance of the PF risks assessment for the 3rd round of EAG mutual evaluations”.

The Plenary was briefed on the implementation of the International Financial Security Movement initiative. The Plenary was also reported on the preparation for the International Financial Security Forum “Sirius-2025” and the 5th International Financial Security Olympiad, which will take place from 28 September to 3 October 2025 in Krasnoyarsk at the initiative of the Russian Federation, which provides the organisation and coordination of the participants of the Olympiad, and its financing. Delegations expressed its support for further development of the International Financial Security movement.

The Plenary expressed gratitude to the Russian Federation for hosting the events of the 42^nd EAG Plenary session, as well as for the high level of organization.

The Republic of Belarus will host the 43^rd EAG Plenary Meeting in November 2025.