MINSK, 20 July (BelTA) - A mission of experts of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) is in Belarus on a visit. On the first day, the head of the visiting mission, EAG Executive Secretary Sergey Teterukov met with First Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian State Control Committee Dmitry Basko, BelTA reports.
The main purpose of the visit is to collect additional information and discuss the interim findings on the regional risks of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF). On 20-22 July, EAG experts are set to meet with representatives of the Belarusian law enforcement and supervisory agencies, the financial intelligence unit, the private sector, who are participants in the national anti-money laundering system.
At their meeting, Dmitry Basko and Sergey Teterukov discussed the issues of conducting the assessment.
"Mutual assessment of the Republic of Belarus was completed in 2019. It received recognition at the international level. It was one of the best in the region. Now we have moved on to the next stage, namely the assessment of the region – Eurasia - and its subregions. These are the subregions of the Union State and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) within which we assess the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing that are inherent in two or more countries. Our task is to propose response measures that require a joint solution of two or more countries," Sergey Teterukov explained.
The role of Belarus in this cooperation is important: its expertise and experience at the national level will be useful and can be scaled up to the regional level. “We are analyzing the best practices and looking forward to the ideas of our Belarusian colleagues on what measures can be scaled up to the regional level. I think Belarus, given its assessment in 2019, has every reason to share its experience,” Sergey Teterukov added.
As an example of positive practicea in Belarus, he cited interagency cooperation, extensive experience in risk assessment, and a number of other special methods of law enforcement. Belarus is also one of the leaders in IT, the use of cryptocurrencies and has a relevant legal framework and practical experience of supervision over this sector.
Vyacheslav Reut, Director of the Financial Monitoring Department of the State Control Committee, also hailed the interaction of all agencies involved in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. These are law enforcement agencies, supervisory authorities and the private sector. Much attention is paid to the training of specialists in view of new challenges and threats.
The experts' visit is part of the EAG project to assess regional money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the Eurasian region. The Financial Monitoring Department of the State Control Committee coordinates this work on behalf of Belarus.
Participation in the project to assess regional ML/TF risks will help Belarus and countries of the subregions to more accurate identify cross-border risks and develop joint measures to reduce them. The findings of the regional risk assessment will be used as the national money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment is updated.
The final report on the regional risk assessment is planned to be presented at the 35th EAG plenary meeting in November 2021.
