The 3rd Forum of the Eurasian Group on AML/CFT was held on 4-5 September in the Kyrgyz Republic

From 4 to 5 September 2023, the 3rd Forum of the Eurasian Group on AML/CFT was held on Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyz Republic.

The Forum was organised by the EAG Secretariat, the State Financial Intelligence Service under the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and was held in a hybrid format.

The main discussion points of this year's Forum were to ensure the effective detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal cases in the area of laundering of proceeds of crime derived from corruption offences and offences against the interests of the public service, as well as offences involving virtual assets, which continues to be pressing issues in Member States.

The Forum participants also reviewed the latest amendments to the FATF Standards on confiscation, provisional measures and mutual legal assistance, and exchanged experience in enhancing the effectiveness of national anti-money laundering systems in asset recovery.

The Forum included a joint workshop on countering the use of virtual assets and terrorist financing, jointly organised by Rosfinmonitoring (Russian Federation) and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).

Kanat Asangulov, Chairman of the SFIS, Alexey Rogov, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, Gabit Sadyrbekov, First Deputy Chairman of the Financial Monitoring Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Sergey Teterukov, EAG Executive Secretary, addressed the Forum participants with welcoming speeches.

The Forum was attended by more than 50 participants, with reports and presentations made by 27 speakers, including representatives of the FIU, law enforcement agencies of EAG member states, as well as a number of invited international experts in the field of AML/CFT/CPF.

During the sessions of the Forum, the participants shared their experience and exchanged views on the issues and peculiarities of detection and investigation of corruption related cases, national and international co-operation, demonstrated the FIU's capabilities in combating money laundering from corruption offences. The Forum participants were informed about the draft recommendations on countering the use of virtual assets for terrorist financing in the EAG member states (UNOCT project led by an expert from the Russian Federation).

Following the results of the Forum, the delegations of EAG member states noted the holding of the Forum of the Eurasian Group on AML/CFT and its results as a significant contribution to further strengthening of the national AML/CFT/CPF systems and increasing the capacity of national experts, as well as stressed on the usefulness and further necessity of conducting targeted activities for the subjects of the national AML/CFT/CPF systems within the framework of the EAG typologies projects.

The EAG Secretariat expresses its gratitude to all Forum participants, moderators and speakers for their active participation and informative discussion, as well as to the State Financial Intelligence Service under the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic and the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek for the high level of organisation of the Forum.

The next IV Forum is scheduled to be held in 2024.

EAG Secretariat