Regional Consultation "Countering the Use of Cryptocurrencies for Terrorist Financing" was held

On November 13-14th, 2023 the Regional Consultation on "Countering the Use of Cryptocurrencies to Finance Terrorism" was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Consultation was organized within the framework of the Virtual Assets Initiative under the leadership of UNOCT/UNCCT, EAG and Rosfinmonitoring and is a part of the activities aimed at preparing Recommendations on Virtual Assets and Terrorist Financing for EAG Member States. 

EAG Member States and guest speakers represented by the Executive Directorate of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee, the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, the OSCE, the Interpol Innovation Centre, the SCO RATS and the CIS ATC exchanged views on the risks associated with the misuse of virtual assets, including for terrorist financing, as well as measures to minimize them, taking into account regional specifics. 

The Consultation identified common challenges faced by the public and private sectors, including the tracking of anonymous cryptoassets for investigative purposes and virtual assets recovery. The Member States noted the need for a flexible approach in introducing changes to existing legislation and practices necessary for immediate response to the risks of using virtual assets in illegal activities, as well as the need to improve the mechanisms of inter-agency and international cooperation.

The EAG Secretariat once again emphasized the importance of full implementation of the requirements of the FATF Standards on virtual assets in the national legislation.  

The experience and best practices of the EAG Member States will be taken into account in the preparation of Recommendations, the first draft of which is tentatively planned to be presented at the EAG Plenary Meeting in December.

EAG Secretariat