Results of the 36th EAG Plenary meeting

I.    General Information about EAG Plenary Meeting 

The meetings of the EAG Working Groups and the 36th Plenary Meeting of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) were held in hybrid format in Tashkent (Republic of Uzbekistan) from May 30 to June 2, 2022. The meetings were attended by the representatives of the EAG Member States, the FATF Secretariat, observer states and organisations of the Group.

The Plenary was chaired by the EAG Chairman Mr. Yury Chikhanchin (Russian Federation) and the EAG Deputy Chairman Mr. Dovran Khalbaev (Turkmenistan).

The welcome address to the Plenary was provided by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Minister of economic development and poverty reduction of the Republic of Uzbekistan Mr. Jamshid Kuchkarov.

II.    Key Issues of the Plenary Agenda

During the Plenary the Protocol amending the EAG statutory documents – the Agreement on the EAG and the Regulation on the Procedure for forming and implementing the Budget of the EAG has been signed by Member States.

The Plenary approved the concept of strengthening the Eurasian group interaction with representatives of high-level public authorities and governance of EAG Member States.

The Plenary adopted the Mutual evaluation Report and the Executive Summary of the Republic of Uzbekistan under the 2nd Round of EAG mutual evaluations.

The Plenary heard the 3rd follow-up report of the Republic of Tajikistan without technical compliance re-rating under the 2nd round of EAG mutual evaluations and noted the progress made by Tajikistan in development of its national AML/CFT system. 

The Plenary Meeting approved the EAG Budget for 2023, the EAG Annual report for 2021, the EAG work plan for the 2nd half of 2022 and 2023. 

The Plenary Meeting agreed upon the changes to the Schedule of the 2nd round of mutual evaluations in the EAG Member States and the Schedule of EAG Plenary Meetings in 2022–2026. 

The Plenary approved the new editions of the Rules of procedure of carrying out the EAG Plenary and working group meetings and the EAG Information and Communication Strategy, as well as a number of other guiding documents.

The Plenary approved the results of the first round of ML/TF risk assessment in the Eurasian region and discussed proposals for further action to develop the measures to minimize the identified regional risks. In addition, the Plenary approved the launch of the typologies project: "Typologies and trends in combating terrorist financing" led by the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Tajikistan, and agreed to continue the monitoring of ML/TF risks associated with the instability in Afghanistan.

The Plenary took note of the information about organization and holding of the next Forum of the Eurasian Group on AML/CFT, which will take place in Nur-Sultan (Republic of Kazakhstan) in the period from 19 to 21 July 2022.

The Plenary took note of the information presented by the People’s Republic of China - on the experience in the creation and implementation of “Digital Currencies”, including on ML/TF risks involved and by the Republic of Kazakhstan - on the best practice of financial monitoring authority in combating drug trafficking.

The Plenary agreed with the initiative to implement a project on development of methodological recommendations on risk assessment and application of risk-based supervision in the NPO sector in EAG Member States in order to improve technical compliance with FATF Recommendation 8 and to achieve effectiveness under Immediate Outcome 10.

The Plenary took note of the progress report on the project to improve risk-based supervision mechanisms in the EAG region and approved the finalized TA Plan to the EAG Member States in the implementation of the RBA in supervision.

The Plenary was informed on the second International Financial Security Olympiad that is being held at the initiative of the Russian Federation from May to October 2022. The Plenary noted an important role of the International Network AML/CFT Institute and the ITMCFM as the core training organization of the CIS in preparation and holding the first International Financial Security Olympiad.

III.    Other issues

The Plenary expressed gratitude to the Republic of Uzbekistan for the hospitality and excellent organization of the 36th EAG Plenary Meeting and Meetings of the Working Groups as well as the ITMCFM for technical assistance in conducting the event.

The 37th EAG Plenary Meeting will be held in the Republic of Tajikistan in November 2022.

IV.    The International scientific-practical conference

On June 3, 2022 the International scientific-practical conference on "Money laundering and the financing of terrorism: current threats and challenges" was held within the EAG Plenary Week.

Experts from 16 countries and 15 international organizations took part in the Conference. They discussed the implementation of FATF international standards, the development of international cooperation, and the enhancement of the role of law enforcement and supervisory agencies in strengthening national AML/CFT systems.

The Academy of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan will publish an electronic digest of materials from the conference.

EAG Secretariat