The results of the 26th EAG Plenary Meeting

he Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) had its 26th Plenary meeting and meetings of Working Groups in Bishkek (Kyrgyz Republic) from 22 to 26 May 2017.

A. General Information on EAG Plenary Meeting

The event was attended by delegations of EAG member states: Belarus, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as representatives of the EAG observer states and organizations Armenia, France, Iran, Italy, Korea, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, USA, FATF, APG, MENAFATF, Egmont Group, Asian Development Bank, Anti-Terrorist Center of the Commonwealth of Independent States (ATC CIS), Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Eurasian Development Bank (EABD), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee (UN CTC), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (represented by RATS SCO).

The EAG Chairman Mr. Yuri Chikhanchin (Russia) chaired the Plenary Session.

Mr. Zhenish Razakov, Vice Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic has addressed the EAG Plenary meeting.

B. Important Issues of the Plenary Session

The Plenary discussed the ISIS-related issues and calls on the member-states to step up their effort to fight the ISIS financing and to effectively implement the relevant UN SC Resolutions.  

The Plenary week hosted the Joint EAG / ATC CIS / ITMCFM Workshop in Cooperation with UN CTED on the Exchange of Experience on Detection of Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Application of Targeted Financial Sanctions attended by the experts from the EAG, CIS, Australia, the UK, Canada, France, Belgium, the UN SC 1267 Committee Monitoring Team, and UN CTC.  A final report on the workshop will be published at the EAG website. 

The plenary approved the following documents:

• the final report on the FTF’s unified financial profile in the EAG area, which makes the identification of the TF-related facts much more effective;

• the reference book The list of information of interest to the FIU and operational bodies conducting joint (international) investigations;

• the list of typology research projects;

• changes to the schedule of the EAG 2nd round of mutual evaluations;

• the EAG Budget for 2018.

C. Next steps

The Plenary will continue preparing for the 2nd round of mutual evaluations and workshops on best practice in implementing AML/CFT/PF standards.

D. Cooperation with International and Regional Organizations, which are EAG Partners

The Plenary noted:

• The important role and efforts of the ITMCFM in preparation for the 2nd round of mutual evaluations and personnel training in the AML/CFT sphere;

• The high importance of the EAG experts’ participation in the UN CTC assessment missions and of rendering technical assistance to the EAG membership as recommended by the UN CTC following the missions;

• The importance of joint work on sharing experience to combat TF and FTF financing.

In this regard the Plenary recommends to the ITMCFM to consider the possibility of increasing the amount of technical assistance in these directions taking into consideration the capacity of the financial monitoring training centers of other EAG member states and other EAG donors.

E. EAG Member States AML/CFT Status

The EAG Member States provided detailed information on the changes introduced to their national AML/CFT legislation, and the NRA-related progress, which clearly demonstrated the active effort taken to reinforce the AML systems focusing on effectiveness. 

The Plenary approved the technical amendments to the 11th FR of the Republic of Tajikistan on exiting the EAG follow-up process (2014) introduced for aligning the document with the unified format. 

F. Other

The International Training and Methodology Center of Rosfinmonitoring (ITMCFM, Russia) informed the Plenary on the TA project for the EAG membership; the Network Institute presented AML/CFT training experience including several diploma (graduate) theses.  

The Plenary approved amendments to the following documents: 

Procedures of the 2nd round of mutual evaluations; Handbook for the countries and experts; Regulation on the recruitment procedure to fill the EAG Secretariat vacancies; Regulation on the EAG Special Commission of the EAG Member-state representatives to recruit and fill the vacancies of the EAG Executive Secretary and the EAG Secretariat employees; Regulation on the contest for the best example of AML/CFT cooperation between government agencies of EAG member-states; Information-submitting form on the national AML/CFT legislation, national risk assessment, and on technical compliance; EAG financial documents.

The Plenary expressed gratitude to the Kyrgyz Republic for the warm hospitality and excellent organization of the 26th EAG Plenary Meeting and Meeting of the Working groups. 

The 27th EAG Plenary Meeting will take place in November 2017, in Moscow, Russian Federation.