EU AML/CFT Global Facility

Follow up to South Africa Regional Rec 8 training co-organised with the UNOCT
2022-05-16 - 2022-05-17 | Zambia, Zambia
This is a follow up event to South Africa Regional Rec 8 workshop co-organised with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the ESAAMLG Secretariat.
This event specifically builds on the foundation of the March regional event in South Africa, follows up actions agreed to maintain momentum and using UNOCT and EUGF experts also expands on the cooperative nature of effective risk based NPO regulation.
The two-day joint regional workshop hosted by the FIC of Zambia on “protecting the NP sector in the ESAAMLG member jurisdictions from terrorism financing abuse” will be held on a hybrid onsite/virtual model.
It will gather representatives from authorities/NPO regulators from ESAAMLG member countries, as well as EU GF partner states from such as Bangladesh and Georgia. This seeks to ensure a wider distribution of the important principles of good NPO regulation in the context of minimising the risk of terrorist financing abuse of the sector.

Regional Conference on Correspondent Banking
2022-05-09 - 2022-05-13 | Mauritius, Mauritius
Regional conference on correspondent banking inaugurated by EU Global Facility, Bank of Mauritius
Port Louis, 11 May 2022 – A regional conference on correspondent banking and de-risking in Eastern and Southern Africa was opened today by the EU Global Facility on AML/CFT and the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) in collaboration with the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG).
Held under the title “From de-risking to best practices in correspondent banking relationships in Eastern and Southern Africa”, the two-day event aims to assess the causes and existence of de-risking in ESAAMLG countries, as well as measures to tackle financial inclusion through the sharing of best practices in correspondent banking.
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr. Renganaden Padayachy, opened the conference, stating: “Our objective is for Mauritius to continue to strengthen its role as an international financial centre for the region while promoting financial stability and inclusion in the country. I am confident that the discussions at this conference will provide guidance in this direction.”
The high level conference will witness the participation of representatives from some of the most important actors in the banking field, including the International Monetary Fund, the Wolfsberg Group, SWIFT, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Egmont Group, Facebook Payments, as well as Mauritian financial institutions.
“The BoM works very closely with all its regulatees to ensure a continuous monitoring of developments on the front of correspondent banking and cross border payments. This workshop is therefore of paramount importance to come out better equipped in view of fostering stronger correspondent banking relationships,” said Harvesh Seegoolam, Governor of the BoM.
For his part, David Hotte, Team Leader of the EU Global Facility, explained: “The economic impact of de-risking can be devastating for countries around the world. They include difficulties in accessing international payment systems and foreign markets for trade, closure of operations by institutions, reduced scale of operations, and diminished financial performance and job losses.”
Noting that the number of correspondent banking terminations and restrictions had increased in the ESAAMLG region in recent years, he added: “with this unique and very high level conference, we intend to provide answers and solutions to the conclusions of the ESAAMLG survey on correspondent banking relationships.”
Last year, Mauritius was removed from both the FATF List of Countries subject to Increased Monitoring ahead of the FATF set timelines and the European Commission List of High-Risk Third Countries. This followed continuous efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of the country’s AML/CFT regime.
——-
The event took place in a hybrid format (onsite and online) in Mauritius, from 11th to 12th, May 2022.
The objectives of this conference are to assist participants on:
(a) The de-risking phenomenon in ESAAMLG region, causes, consequences, and main drivers of correspondent banking relationships (CBRs) termination
(b) The measurement of de-risking impact and of listing
(c) Describe the FATF (Recommendation 13) and EU best practices, cross-border correspondent relationships, as opposed to domestic relationships, that should prompt additional customer due diligence measures
(d) Clarify the role of SWIFT as global provider of secure financial messaging services, and give an overview of the correspondent banking system, SWIFT’s role and initiatives in financial crime compliance, and particularly in the ESAAMLG region
(e) The challenges faced by correspondent banks
(f) The practical roles, tools and solutions, available for supervisors to design and implement risk-based supervision strategies
(g) The practical expectations, from the Financial Intelligence Units in receiving, analysing, and disseminating suspicious transaction reports on correspondent banking, and from Law Enforcement agencies in conducting investigations on financial crime abusing correspondent banking relationships (typologies) and the relevant consequences
(h) Facilitating the exchange of experiences between similar competent authorities

2nd Meeting of the High Level Experts Working Group
2022-05-02 - 2022-05-04 | Bucarest, Romania
Experts convene to develop innovative legal tools to combat money laundering, terrorist financing
Bucarest, 2 May 2022 – High level experts from the judiciary and financial intelligence fields on Wednesday concluded a three-day meeting organised by the EU Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (EU GF-AML/CFT) in cooperation with the Siracusa International Institute on criminal justice and human rights.
Held at the National Institute of Magistracy of Romania, this constituted the second in a series of collaborative meetings held under the title “Assessing the scope and effectiveness of innovative legal approaches to money laundering (ML) investigations and asset recovery”. These activities seek to lead to the production of a far-reaching study on existing good practice that alleviate the burden of proof in ML investigations and asset recovery procedures. The results of the study shall provide a valuable resource for the work of relevant global and regional institutions (e.g. FATF, FSRBs, EU and UN relevant structures etc.), as well as national authorities and justice sectors.
General Prosecutor of Romania Gabriela Scutea opened the session on Monday, stating “We need to help develop new innovative instruments to combat ML and terrorist financing (TF) worldwide. I am trusting that the result of this collaborative work will be helpful and inspire legal practitioners not only here in Romania but also in many countries of the world.”
For his part, EU Global Facility Team Leader David Hotte noted in his opening remarks: “Today, we need to find a solution to combat ML/TF in an ever more efficient way that is useful for all but also constitutional and in respect of human rights.”
During this specific session, experts worked to identify, in their domestic law, one or several legal mechanisms (legislative provision, rule established by consolidated case law, administrative mechanism, etc.) which facilitate satisfying the reversed burden of proof in ML and cases of illicit enrichment offence.
President of the Siracusa Institute, Jean-François Thony, stressed the importance of the matter, saying “the experts meeting today have one question to answer: how can we improve the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and how can we ensure that criminals engaging in that kind of activities can be sentenced and deprived of their ill-gotten assets, within the respect of constitutional rights?”
“All practitioners know that the difficulty of providing evidence of the offence of money laundering is more acute than for any other crime, because the essence of this offence is precisely to hide evidence, to make the trail of illicit profits untraceable, and to protect criminal assets from confiscation,” he added.
The Experts Working Group is part of a series of activities organised by the EU GF-AML/CFT and the Siracusa Institute aimed at strengthening international judicial co-operation and the efficient application of existing MLA standards and international instruments by judges and prosecutors.

Working visit IO5/IO7 to Panama
2022-04-18 - 2022-04-23 | Panama, Panama
From April 18th to 23rd, 2022 a Global Facility delegation will be in Panama to conduct different activities covering FATF Immediate Outcome 5 and 7. The activities will be implemented in cooperation with experts from the World Bank.
The working programme included a conference on “Transparency and Beneficial Ownership – Highlighting the launching of the Private and Unique System for the Registry of Beneficial Ownership of Legal Entities”
Gathering speakers from the Panamanian authorities, the World Bank and the EU Global Facility, the conference was attended by more than 300 people, on a hybrid format (onsite/online).
During their opening speeches, Minister of Economy and Finances, H.E Hector E. Alexander H., and Superintendent of Non-Financial Subjects (SSNF) Dayra Carrizo Castillero, welcomed the support provided to Panama by GAFILAT , the EU GF, the IMF and the WB.
For his part, GAFILAT Deputy Executive Secretary Gustavo Vega commended the close work that started between the EU GF and GAFILAT on the topic of beneficial ownership

The next day, a workshop on national risk assessment for Designated Non Financial Businessess and Professions (DNFBPs) was held.

Workshop on AML CFT typologies on real estate for the FIU of the UAE
2022-04-18 - 2022-04-22 | The UAE, United Arab Emirates
The EU GFT will implement a virtual workshop with representatives of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the United Arab Emirates.
The overall purpose of this event will be to increase the knowledge and understanding of the analysts of the FIU regarding the suspicious transaction reports (STR) received from the real estate sector.

Scoping mission to DRC
2022-04-11 - 2022-04-14 | DRC, Congo, Democratic Republic of the
The EU Global Facility on AML/CFT kicked off a scoping mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday.
From 11 to 14 April 2022, the delegation -led by our Key Expert on Judiciary/CSOs Mamuka Jgenti – will be in Kinshasa for a series of meetings with Congolese stakeholders.
Among others, they will meet with representatives from different ministries (finance, justice, interior), the CENAREF (financial intelligence unit, focal point for the EU GFT), the Central Bank of Congo, the Public prosecutor office and the anti-#corruption agency, among others.
This scoping mission to the DRC aims to evaluate the current state of play and the potential technical assistance that could be delivered by the EU Global Facility to Congolese counterparts. The Global Facility will complete this scoping mission together with the AML-THB Project in the Greater Horn of #Africa, in order to join forces and offer the most comprehensive technical assistance possible.

Training of Turkish regulators on FATF REC 8 requirements
2022-04-04 - 2022-04-06 | Turkey, Turkey
This is the first complete e-training module launched with the Turkish authorities on the implementation and compliance with FATF REC 8.
The sessions are expected to be attended by representatives of Turkish authorities and regulators as well as law enforcement authorities. This e=training will be followed by online and onsite capacity building events organised by the EU GF.

ESAAMLG Plenary
2022-04-03 - 2022-04-08 | Arusha, Tanzania, United Republic of
The EU Global Facility on AML/CFT is invited to attend the ESAAMLG’s 43rd Task Force of Senior Officials’ Meeting from 3 to 8 April 2022 at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania.

Scoping mission to Morocco
2022-03-29 - 2022-03-30 | Morocco, Morocco
On 29 and 30 March 2022, a delegation from the EU Global Facility on AML/CFT will be in Rabat for a series of meetings with Moroccan counterparts.
Among others, they will meet with the Ministry of Finance (focal point for AML/CFT activities and the establishment of a beneficial owner register), the ANRF (financial intelligence unit), financial and non-financial supervisory authorities, the Ministry of Justice, and various liaison magistrates.
These meetings aim to be a platform for discussion of technical assistance and refine Morocco’s request for AML/CFT strengthening support.

Regional Conference on Strengthening Judicial Cooperation in the MENA Region
2022-03-22 - 2022-03-24 | Bahrain, Bahrain
Press Release
Regional conference on judicial cooperation in the MENA region launched in Bahrain

Manama, 22 March 2022 – The EU Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (EU GF-AML/CFT) on Tuesday kicked off a regional conference on judicial cooperation in the MENA region, in collaboration with the Siracusa International Institute for criminal justice and human rights organised with the support of the Public Prosecution of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Held under the title ‘Strengthening Judicial Cooperation in the MENA Region: Judges and Prosecutors at the Forefront of the Fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing’, the three-day event is witnessing the participation of 70 participants from 18 countries of the MENA region.
“We are delighted to be here today with such great attendance. It is with pleasure that we see the level of dedication to judicial cooperation, a topic at the heart of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing,” said EU Global Facility Team Leader David Hotte in his welcoming remarks.
“It is particularly impressive to witness participants from so many countries committed to the deepening of collaborative measures to ensure the due recovery of proceeds from organised crime and terrorist activities,” he added, thanking the Kingdom of Bahrain and all representatives for their attendance.
For his part, Jean-François Thony, President of the Siracusa Institute, highlighted the importance of the event, stating: ‘‘this conference is one-of its kind. Indeed, seeing judges and prosecutors from so many countries gathered in one room to cooperate on AML/CFT is unique, especially in this region. Too often we forget the importance of judges and prosecutors in the AML/CFT process but not today.”
“International collaboration of this level is of particular importance for the Siracusa Institute, which is at the forefront of the fight against organised crime in the Mediterranean and has made of the improvement of criminal justice systems one of its core missions.”
The conference is part of a series of activities organised by the EU GF-AML/CFT and the Siracusa Institute aimed at strengthening international judicial co-operation and the efficient application of existing MLA standards and international instruments by judges and prosecutors.
In a video message, Regional Counsellor on counterterrorism and security at the EU Delegation to Bahrain, Philippe Cormier, stated “this conference is an illustration of the fast and strong development of our common ambition to develop and deepen judicial cooperation in the MENA region and work to facilitate judicial cooperation with the EU, in a result oriented way.”
“Today, with this EU-MENA conference on judicial cooperation, our common interest is to extend the level of trust developed between EU Member States to the judicial relation we have between EU and MENA Member States,” he added.

Topics tackled during the conference included:

What works and does not work for judicial cooperation on AML/CFT matters: A high-level situation analysis for the MENA region
Countering the financing of terrorism: a specific challenge for the MENA region
National strategies to ensure effective investigations and prosecutions relating to anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and counter-proliferation
Best practices for money laundering and financial investigations and prosecutions, and criminal asset recovery
Constitutional arguments as obstacles to judicial cooperation: Contrasting myth and reality
Improving the capacity of investigators and judicial systems to turn intelligence into evidence
International experiences and best practices with governmental and social reuse of confiscated criminal assets
Improving judicial cooperation in the MENA region: listing effective tools

Scoping mission to Jamaica
2022-03-14 - 2022-03-18 | Jamaica, Jamaica
This scoping mission to Jamaica aims to evaluate the current state of play and the activities delivered so far by the EU Global Facility to Jamaican counterparts.
During a variety of meetings, participants from both sides will discuss the action plan for the future of the technical assistance, which will include a specific focus on Recommendation 8 and beneficial ownership.
Alongside the scoping mission, a workshop will also be organised for regulatory authorities and Not-for-Profit Organisations. It will cover the strategy and steps needed for compliance with the recommendations’ requirements.
Press Release
Wrap up Jamaica ????????
The EU Global Facility on AML/CFT’s Team Leader David Hotte and Key Expert on Justice/CSOs Mamuka Jgenti conclude their Technical Assistance (TA) scoping and assessment visit to Kinston, Jamaica.
During the visit, they held a number of outreach meetings with the representatives of the Bank of Jamaica, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FID) and the agencies regulating the Not for Profit Organisations in the country.
A few outcomes:
→ The progress achieved Jamaica to date in the implementation of ICRJ AP was reviewed
→ The added value of the TA provided by the GFT was assessed.
→ The EU GF support was commended by the local authorities, who highlighted the “tangible results achieved”, in particular regarding the FATF Rec 8 and BO related matters.
→A concrete follow up interaction work plan was agreed to extend the coverage of TA provided by the EU GF, to encompass activities under the Justice and Law Enforcement components of the AML/CFT system.
In parallel, the EU GF organised its 1st onsite workshop in Jamaica for the authorities/NPO regulators and civil society representatives. The workshop aimed at supporting Jamaica’s efforts in ensuring compliance with the FATF Rec 8 in line with the ICRG AP.
The workshop was conducted by the expert Phil Cooper from the Greenacre Group Ltd and witnessed the attendance of Minister Aubyn Hill of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Sancia Templar, Permanent Secretary and Maurene Simms, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Jamaica.

ESAAMLG/EU GF Regional Workshop on Implementation of Requirements of FATF Rec 8
2022-03-07 - 2022-03-09 | Johannesburg, South Africa
The EU-funded AML/CFT Global Facility, in collaboration with the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), the Global NPO Coalition on FATF and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), South Africa will jointly organise a three-day regional workshop on “Implementation of Requirements of FATF Recommendation 8” for ESAAMLG member countries.
Scheduled on 7 to 9 March 2022 in in Johannesburg, South Africa, the regional workshop will seek to assist participants to:

– Understand the requirements of FATF Recommendation 8 and what they need to do to strengthen their legislations, institutional and operational frameworks such as policies and other terrorist financing mitigating measures.
– Acquire knowledge and expertise so that they are able to identify those NPOs that fall within the FATF definition and those which are likely to be at the risk of TF abuse, and to better understand how the NPOs can be abused for terrorist financing purposes;
– Acquire knowledge and expertise which will enable them to apply targeted risk-based supervision or monitoring of those NPOs that are at risk of being abused; and
– Understand how they can establish effective mechanisms to facilitate cooperation and coordination and information sharing amongst relevant competent authorities in order to take preventive or investigative action in a timely manner.

This Workshop will be organised and held in the spirit of enhancing member countries’ compliance with relevant FATF Standards. It will provide regulators of NPOs, FIUs and NPO Associations with a platform to discuss and share insights on best practices and challenges which they face and methodologies that can be used to ensure compliance with the FATF requirements on NPOs. Such exchanges will contribute towards prioritisising the improvement of national legislation and policies that will promote accountability, integrity and public confidence in the administration and management of NPOs. The Workshop will also assist member countries to implement respective FATF ICRG Action Plans or any other follow-up processes in relation to Recommendation 8.

Scoping mission to Zambia
2022-03-01 - 2022-03-04 | Zambia, Zambia

EU delisting of Mauritius, Botswana - Official Journal
2022-02-21
Mauritius is officially out of the EU high risk countries on AML/CFT !
As per Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, the Official Journal of the European Union announced the ‘delisting’ of Mauritius, alongside that of the Bahamas, Botswana, Ghana and Iraq.
The EU recognised the “written high-level political commitment to address the identified deficiencies of these high-risk third countries which have developed an action plan with Financial Action Task Force (FATF)”.
The EU Global Facility on AML/CFT is particularly enthusiastic about this achievement, having been a long standing partner of Mauritius in its delisting efforts since June 2019.
Over the course of 18 months, the EU GF-AML/CFT provided technical support to the country as part of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC) composed of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the International Monetary Fund, UNODC, The World Bank, in addition to the support of the French and British embassies, as well as the AML-THB Project, among others.
Among other announcements:
????“The FATF welcomed significant progress made by Botswana, Ghana and Mauritius in improving their AML/CFT regime and noted that Botswana, Ghana and Mauritius have established the legal and regulatory framework to meet the commitments in their action plans regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF had identified. Botswana, Ghana and Mauritius are therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s monitoring process under its on-going global AML/CFT compliance process. Botswana, Ghana and Mauritius will continue to work with the FATF Style Regional Bodies to improve further their AML/CFT regime.”
????“The Commission’s analysis concluded that the Bahamas, Botswana, Ghana, Iraq and Mauritius do not have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regime anymore considering the available information. The Bahamas, Botswana, Ghana, Iraq and Mauritius have strengthened the effectiveness of their AML/CFT regime and addressed related technical deficiencies to meet the commitments in their action plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified and the additional benchmarks or preliminary concerns set by the Commission.”
For the full Bulletin click here

Outreach visit to Europol
2022-02-17 | Europol, Netherlands
Yesterday, our team leader David Hotte, Key Expert on Regulation Arnaud Stien and Coordinator Benjamin Bricheux conducted an outreach visit to Europol in The Hague, to discuss common areas of interest and potential synergies with a number of colleagues from the EFECC, the TFTP (ECTC), the Governance Department and the Spanish liaison office at Europol.
Following presentations of Europol and the EU GF project, discussions revolved around potential cooperation in the future and common interest in the field of AML/CFT. Sharing of expertise and the participation of Europol in some of the EU Global Facility’s activities were also evoked.
Indeed, the Global Facility mentioned its keenness on inviting Europol experts in a targeted way, depending on the topics and the countries.
The exchanges contributed to positioning the Global Facility as a potential technical assistance solution in countries with which Europol cooperates, and where a need for training on AML/CFT related matters is emerging (ex: Colombia was mentioned).
The Global Facility also expressed its interest in joining the Europol Platform for Experts (EPE), which could serve as a forum for exchange between police officers trained in the partner countries.
???? ???????? EUROPOL (the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation), is the law enforcement agency of the European Union #EU created in 1998 to handle criminal #intelligence and combat serious international #organisedcrime and #terrorism through #cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states.

Strategic Approach for the ICRG Process - Jordan
2022-02-08 - 2022-02-10 | Jordan
Over the past three days, the EU Global Facility on AML/CFT was in Jordan to support the delivery of a strategic approach for the International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) Process focused activity.
Jordanian partners were introduced to the successful experience of Mauritius by Yonesha Sahyem head of AML/CFT at the Ministry of Good Governance and Dr Navin Beekarry, Co-Chair of the Core Group for AML/CFT in Mauritius.
This activity aimed to enhance Jordan’s capacity to respond to ICRG requirements through the exchange of best practices on strategic capacity building.
Following a high-level briefing on the strategic approach and the coordination mechanism that can be in put place, sessions focused on actions to be taken at each stage of the ICRG monitoring cycle and on the conditions to be met for removal from the ICRG process. This includes an ICRG on-site visit and the coordination mechanism to prepare for the face-to-face meeting with the Joint Group.
Discussions were also held with senior officials on the operation of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC) and the technical assistance matrix and the future course of action between the EU GF and Jordan.

Scoping mission to Turkey
2022-02-02 - 2022-02-04 | Turkey, Turkey
The Global Facility will conduct a scoping mission in Turkey with the objective of meeting stakeholders and agreeing on a technical cooperation programme.

E-workshop on the Risk Assessment of LP/LA in Jordan (follow up of December 20th)
2022-01-31 | Jordan
The purpose of this workshop is to discuss and go-through the work conducted by Jordan in describing and analysing the risks associated with the legal entities and arrangements in scope. This constitutes a follow up of the last e-workshop conducted on December 20th.
It comes as part of a series of online workshops conducted on BO with Jordanian authorities.

E-workshop on the Risk Assessment of LP/LA in Jordan
2022-01-17 | Jordan
This workshop constitutes a follow-up of the e-workshop held on November 8th.
It seeks to finalise the identification of the business and technical requirements for Legal Persons and Legal Arrangements (LP/LA) risk assessment.
Subsequent to this workshop, further work will be initiated on the drafting of the tendering process documentation.

Law enforcement workshop - Art and Antiquities
2022-01-13
Art trafficking and conflict looting was at the agenda of our workshop last week with some of the leading figures in the field.
Discussions revolved around the preparation of the upcoming regional conference on “The use of AML /CFT legislation in the investigation of Art and Antiquities Criminality” to be held in Cairo, Egypt.
Part of a series of regional events, the conference will target prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and members of the public and private sector concerned in the management and investigation of cultural crime, particularly art and antiquities.
In April 2021, we held the first webinar focused on the disruption of money laundering and terrorist financing networks involved in the trafficking of blood antiquities, conflict looting and art theft.

Mission to Turkiye
2022-01-11 - 2022-01-12 | Turkey, Turkey
This mission of the EU Global Facility’s team leader David Hotte and key expert on judiciary/CSO Mamuka Jgenti seeks to develop initial contacts with the Turkish Financial Intelligence Unit (Masak) as a way to plan cooperation between the Turkish authorities and the EU GF.
It will also aim to coordinate the regional and global efforts with other institutions such as the Council of Europe.

BO guidelines for reporting entities in Jordan
2022-01-06 | Jordan
First activity to kick-off 2022 in Jordan!
Yesterday marked the launch of a new beneficial ownership activity in Jordan, focused on the “Beneficial Ownership Guidelines for Reporting Entities” developed by local authorities.
✅This guideline constitutes an important step toward addressing the FATF’s action plan of Jordan on BO.
✅It is likewise an important document that will increase the understanding of the BO disclosure requirements as well as
✅the consistency of the BO identification and
✅the verification processes that reporting entities have to put in place.
Building on the previous consultations and work conducted with the Global Facility on the BO regulation, further discussions will be organised in the coming months to finalise the review of those guidelines and disseminate them to reporting entities and relevant private sector stakeholders.

E-workshop on the risk assessment of LP/LA in Jordan
2021-12-20 | Jordan
This week’s workshop conducted with the authorities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan marked the last activity on Beneficial Ownership of this year.
Led by Key Expert on BO, Alexandre Taymans, this two-day workshop was a follow-up activity from the initial workshop held on 8 November 2021.
It aimed to review and discuss the work conducted by Jordan in the mapping of the legal entities and arrangements in scope. Notably, it focused on the ongoing implementation by Jordan of its national legal person and legal arrangement ML/TF risk assessment.
It also cover the description of said entities, as well as their general functioning and categorisation.
The Jordanian authorities and the Global Facility will continue their collaboration on BO in the next year, with a specific emphasis on risk analysis and corresponding mitigating risks identified for both the entities and arrangements in scope.
The activity was delivered jointly by Mr Taymans and expert Alexander Peschetz.

ICRJ implementation in relation to FATF REC 8 in Jordan
2021-12-12 - 2021-12-16 | Jordan
On 12-16 December 2021, the EU Global Facility organised an e-training on the FATF Rec 8 compliance for regulators from Jordan.
The objective of this e-training is to support the audience in better understanding how to best develop a formal written mechanism for identifying and scoring risks, including TF risks. The sessions also focused on how to review the NPOs’ existing legal and regulatory frameworks and allocate the governance-focused gaps. Best approach to the outreach programme was also covered by the e-training.

Drafting of the BO Regulation and planning forward in Jordan
2021-12-07 - 2021-12-08 | Jordan
The two-day workshop, organised by Key experts Arnaud Stien and Alexandre Taymans, was delivered with the collaboration of experts Lubjinka Slaveska and Michael Barron. Attendees included representatives from the Anti-Money Laundering Unit, the Central Bank of Jordan, the Companies Control Department and the Jordan Free and Development Zones Group.
The workshop focused on

(i) the finalisation of the draft BO Regulation that the Global Facility has been working on with Jordan and
(ii) the identification and planning of the upcoming activities related to the implementation of this Regulation (e.g. outreach activities for the FI/DNFBP sectors, supervisors and legal vehicles in scope).

Following the workshop, meetings were held with the head of the AMLU and the Controller of the Companies Control Department to discuss the forthcoming activities to be organised by the EU Global Facility in Jordan. Activities will cover a variety of topics such as crypto assets, TFS and strategic approach.
Next steps and activities aimed at addressing the items of Jordan’s ICRG action plan related to the FATF Immediate Outcome 5 were also scheduled, amongst which an on-site workshop on the development of the IT solution to enable the registration of Beneficial Owners within the CCD.

ICRJ implementation in relation to FATF REC 8 in Jamaica
2021-12-06 - 2021-12-10 | Jamaica, Jamaica
The EU Global Facility’s engagement with Jamaica continues.
On 2-6 December, the project will organise an e-training on the FATF Rec 8 compliance for regulators from Jamaica. Targeted at all key officials involved in the regulation of Not-for-Profit Organisations (NPOs), the training will establish the key steps needed to ensure sustainable progress on the establishment of a risk-based system of NPO regulation. As a reminder, this constitutes a key requirement of FATF R8 compliance.
Attendees will work on examining existing regulatory activity, whereby they will be acquainted with a risk-based system on NPOs regulation.

Expert Working Group on Scoping & Methodology 'Legal innovations against money laundering'
2021-12-02 - 2021-12-03 | Siracusa, Italy, Siracusa, Italy
Held as part of a series of activities organised by the EU Global Facility on AML/CFT in cooperation with the Siracusa International Institute, this meeting will gather for the first time the Expert Working Group on Scoping and Methodology to assess the scope and effectiveness of innovative legal approaches to money laundering investigations and asset recovery.
This group comprises leading criminal law academics, constitutional law specialists, Constitutional Court Judges and AML/CFT practitioners, who will work on a far-reaching study on the scope and effectiveness of innovative legal approaches to money laundering investigations, including criminal, civil and administrative legal approaches to asset recovery.
In this kick-off meeting, the working group will define the scope of the study and provide initial guidance to the research team. They will do so by taking part in two “tour de table” sessions where experts will have the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience about such innovations in their home jurisdictions.
The outcome of this guidance will serve to set up the project encompassing the various phases and methodology of the research.

NPO Workshop 'Countering TF risks in the NPO sector' - Mauritius
2021-11-25 | Mauritius, Mauritius
At the request of the authorities of Mauritius, the training was designed for representatives of the civil society from Mauritius.
It seeks to enable them to have a better understanding of AML/CFT main principles and standards, operation of AML/CFT systems and best practices applied in understanding and mitigating the risks of NPO abuse, as well as ensuring the compliance with the relevant EU and FATF recommendations and particularly FATF Recommendation 8 on the bases of recently adopted regulations and guidelines by the authorities of Mauritius.
Furthermore, the event aims to explain the recent developments that include the re-rating of Mauritius from NC (non-compliant) to LC (largely compliant).

This activity is part of a series of activities organised by the EU Global Facility in Mauritius from November 16 to 25th, 2021.

EuroMed meeting of the Forum of Prosecutors General
2021-11-23 - 2021-11-25 | Eurojust, The Hague, Netherlands
On November 23rd to 25th, 2021, the EU Global Facility on AML CFT participated in the third EuroMed meeting of the Forum of Prosecutors General, which took place at Eurojust in The Hague.
Our Senior Expert on Justice, Victoria Palau, was involved in a series of meetings, including the first cross-regional meeting of the Prosecutors general of the Mediterranean countries and EU MS, which led to the approval of one the first cross-regional Strategic Plan for judicial cooperation.
One of the two strategic topics and action plans approved by the Prosecutors general encompassed the judicial cooperation on the confiscation of crime proceeds and asset recovery, a subject matter at the core of the EU Global Facility’s work as it constitutes a crucial part of the financial investigation and penal chain on AML/CFT.
The third meeting of the EuroMed Forum of Prosecutors General was preceded by the 14th meeting of CrimEx, the expert group in judicial criminal matters of the EMJ programme.

Throughout those two days, the EU Global Facility, represented by Mrs Palau, and Euromed Justice discussed ways to enhance their cooperation on judicial matters.

BO Disclosure Framework workshop with the Bank of Mauritius
2021-11-23 - 2021-11-25
The three-day onsite workshop tackled the topic of “BO disclosure frameworks, supervisors and obliged entities: from multi-pronged approach to multi stakeholder engagement“.
Organised jointly by the EU AML/CFT Global Facility and the Bank Of Mauritius, the workshop constitutes the result of several joint activities conducted in the past month aimed of enhancing the understanding and effective implementation of Beneficial Ownership disclosure standards in Mauritius, by both the BoM and the obliged entities under its supervision.
This engaging public-private perspective resulted in dedicated “Beneficial Ownership Identification and Verification Guidelines” as well as a dedicated “Beneficial Ownership Supervision Handbook”. These Guidelines and Handbook will be extensively discussed with the BoM as well as other supervisors (e.g., FSC, FIU, AGO, MIPA) and their obliged entities under supervision during the course of the workshop.
Press Communiqué of the activity:
Financial Services: Workshop to reinforce capacity of financial institutions supervisors
Our team led by Arnaud Stien and Alexandre Taymans led discussions focused on the key features and challenges of international and EU BO standards, outreach tools that can be implemented as well as supervisory and sanctioning mechanisms available. New areas of cooperation were also discussed.
In his address, First Deputy Governor of the BoM Mr Kona Yerukunondu expressed gratitude to EU Global Facility for their “invaluable support to implement the International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) action plan and the country’s exit from the FATF’s grey list”.
“Experts of EU Global Facility have been a key partner for Mauritius to improve techniques on AML/CFT and I am confident that the assistance provided by the EU will significantly enhance the skills of supervisors as they are highly instrumental in bringing industry practices at par with global standards.”
Mr Kona Yerukunondu also emphasised the importance of education as an effective tool to transform compliance cultures for organisations.
Mr Arnaud Stien underlined the opportunities arising for the country following its delisting from the FATF grey list.
“It is crucial to keep the momentum high as Mauritius embarks on a new journey as a global community. For the way forward, Mauritius needs to stay compliant and we will continue supporting the country in new areas of cooperation in the future.”
