Public statement of the 15th EAG Plenary meeting

The 15th Plenary meeting of the Eurasian group on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism (EAG) was held in Xiamen, China on November 23-24, 2011.
 
The Plenary meeting elected Mr. Yuri Chikhanchin (Russia) to the post of the EAG Chairman and expressed its gratitude to Mr. Oleg Markov, who chaired the Group from 2007 for his contribution and achieved results in the development of the organization and the regional anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.   

The representatives of over 20 member and observer states and organizations involved in international AML/CFT efforts took part in the meeting.

In the course of the Plenary the Republic of India joined the EAG Agreement. This means that all EAG members have now signed this document, which establishes an intergovernmental status for the organization.

The new composition of EAG observers has been approved: 12 governments and 17 international organizations will hold this status (see full list of observers on the EAG website).

The Working group on supervision has been created by the decision of the EAG Plenary meeting. It will deal with the issues of implementing a risk-based approach in supervision and regulation, hold consultations and other work with the private sector and a range of other issues.

Progress of member-states in strengthening AML/CFT regimes:

Turkmenistan
Since June 2011, Turkmenistan has made significant progress in relation to a large number of Recommendations through the adoption of new laws and regulations. In particular, it applies to the legal Recommendations (R.1, 3, 35, SR.I, II, III), as well as supervision (R.23) and international cooperation (R.40). Turkmenistan will provide the next follow-up report to the 16th EAG Plenary Meeting.

Tajikistan
Presently the Republic of Tajikistan is actively improving its AML/CFT system, including through the implementation of the FATF action plan approved by the Prime-Minister of Tajikistan. Tajikistan should further work on addressing deficiencies related to the legal Recommendations (R.1, SR.II) as well as to mechanisms for freezing terrorists assets (SR.III). The Republic of Tajikistan will present the next follow-up report at the 16th EAG Plenary meeting.

Kyrgyzstan
Due to inclusion of Kyrgyzstan into the list of jurisdictions subject to FATF monitoring the Plenary meeting decided to request Kyrgyzstan to present its follow-up report to the 16th EAG Plenary meeting.