The results of the 31st EAG Plenary Meeting

A.    General Information on EAG Plenary Meeting

The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) held its 31st Plenary meeting and meetings of Working Groups in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) on November 25-29, 2019.
The event was attended by delegations of EAG member states: Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and representatives of the EAG observer states and organizations: Armenia, Afghanistan, Iran, Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Serbia, USA, Turkey, FATF, Egmont Group, UN 1267 Monitoring Team, Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Executive Committee of Commonwealth Independent States (EC CIS), UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UN CTED), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), New Development Bank (NDB), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Their Precursors (CARICC), as well as the Bureau for the coordination of the fight against organized crime and other dangerous types of crimes (BKBOP) invited by the Chairperson.
The EAG Chairperson Ms. HAO Jinghua (China) chaired the Plenary.
The Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, Mr. Batyr Bazarov delivered a welcoming speech to the Plenary session.

B.    Important Issues of the Plenary Session

The Plenary elected Mr. Yuri A. Chikhanchin (Russian Federation) Chairman for 2020 – 2021.
The candidacy for the Deputy Chair for 2020-2021 shall be nominated by the Republic of Tajikistan after the national consultation.
The Plenary adopted the Report and Executive Summary of the 2nd Round Mutual Evaluation of the Republic of Belarus. The Plenary discussed the key findings and recommended actions on the Belarus’s AML/CFT system and concluded that the country has an in-depth understanding of its ML/TF risks. The country has implemented strategies and laws to mitigate these risks. Belarus demonstrates substantial effectiveness in preventing potential terrorist financing; in TFS implementation; use of financial intelligence in detecting, investigating and prosecuting crimes, and in providing international cooperation. At the same time, Belarus should improve it approach to NPO supervision and ensuring the transparency of legal persons.
Under the EAG 2nd Round ME Procedures, Belarus will be placed under regular follow-up to report its progress to the 37th Plenary in November 2022. 
After the Quality and Consistency Review, the MER will be published on the EAG website.
The Plenary also considered the 2nd follow-up report of the Kyrgyz Republic in the framework of the new round of the EAG mutual evaluations with TC re-rating requests. The Plenary recognized significant progress achieved in improving the national AML/CFT system and approved upgrades on a majority of FATF Recommendations. After the Quality and Consistency Review, the follow-up report will be published on the EAG website. The Kyrgyz Republic will submit the next follow-up report to the 33rd Plenary in November 2020.
The Plenary considered the 1st follow-up report of the Republic of Tajikistan. The Republic of Tajikistan will submit the next follow-up report to the 33rd Plenary in November 2020.
The Plenary considered several items on the practical CFT action by the member states, reaffirming the relevance and persistence of CT/CFT challenge and calling upon the membership to continue preventing and disrupting terrorist financing, and sharing the national lists of terrorist suspects. 
The Plenary approved the joint EAG/APG typology report “Terrorist financing using proceeds of crime including organized crime” The report will be posted on the EAG secure website.
The Plenary supported the Project Plan on providing technical assistance to the Republic of Tajikistan, proposed by the Secretariat, and recommended that potential donors use the document as they plan their activities in the country. In February 2020, the EAG Secretariat will conduct a Regional donor conference to make sure donors are determined for specific TA activities within the Project Plan. 
The EAG Chairperson sent congratulatory letters to the Heads of State and Heads of Government of the EAG member states to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the EAG. 
The Plenary supported the initiative of the EAG Secretariat to launch a regional ML/TF risk assessment exercise. 
The Plenary supported the proposal of the Kyrgyz Republic to conduct a Eurasian AML/CFT Forum on an annual basis. 
The Plenary approved the EAG Work Plan for 2020.

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

The Plenary granted the status of EAG observer to the Bureau for the coordination of the fight against organized crime and other dangerous types of crimes (BKBOP). The delegations recognized the value of cooperating with BKBOP and expressed hopes for fruitful cooperation.

D.    EAG Member States AML/CFT Status

The EAG member states presented updates on ongoing improvements of their national AML/CFT systems and ongoing ML/TF risk assessments.

E.    Other

The Plenary expressed gratitude to Turkmenistan for the warm hospitality and excellent organization of the 31st EAG Plenary Meeting and Meetings of the Working Groups. 
The 32nd EAG Plenary will be a joint Plenary with FATF and will take place in June 2020 in the People’s Republic of China.