EU AML/CFT Global Facility

International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property
2022-11-14
Today is International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property, a topic central to the fight on AML/CFT.
“Held every year on 14 November, the International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property reminds the world that theft, looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property takes place in every country, robbing people of their culture, identity and history, and that we have to work together to combat this crime,” states the UNESCO on its website.
The fight against illicit trade of cultural goods is at the heart of the EU Global Facility’s work, which includes a series of regional conferences on “the use of Anti money Laundering & Countering Terrorist Financing (AMLCFT) in the investigation of Art and Antiquities Criminality”.
Started in Cairo in June 2022, the conferences seek to lead to the production of a manual on good practices and lessons learned on the fight against this traffic. The second iteration is foreseen in South East Asia in the beginning of 2023.

Webinar on Beneficial Ownership Transparency and Complex Ownership Structures
2022-11-15
The EU Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism on Tuesday 15 November 2022 hosted a closed webinar on the topic of “Beneficial Ownership Transparency and Complex Ownership Structures”, which gathered representatives from international and regional organisations, BO Registers and competent authorities from partner countries, as well as experts from academia, the private sector and civil society.
The agenda included institutional speakers from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Secretariat and APGML as well as authorities from Austria and Belgium.
This was followed by several short presentations on cases of complex structures from a wide range of experts and topics including: corruption, money laundering, banking transactions, mafia-infiltration, tax avoidance, investment funds and extractive industries.
In his opening remarks, EU GF Team Leader David Hotte highlighted the emerging challenges stemming from such complex structures in the identification of BO and in the setting-up of effective disclosure systems within jurisdictions.
He thanked the panellists and large number of attendees. “With over 400 registered participants, this activity is a testimony to the need for further work to be conducted on this topic. The EU Global Facility will therefore continue its ongoing work in this domain.”
Our Key Expert on Beneficial Ownership Alexandre Taymans, described the work being carried by the project with partner countries and organisations, which includes bringing together experts from the public and private sector, as well as civil society representatives. He emphasised that “the composition of the panel and the wide range of expertise put together today, is a reflection of the multi-stakeholder engagement and enforcement strategies that will inevitably be required for BO disclosure systems to be made effective”.
He discussed the follow-up work to be conducted in this domain, which will involve discussing measures to address and reduce the risk of complexity affecting beneficial ownership transparency.

Workshop on ML and Financial Crimes Investigation Techniques for Representatives of the UAE Penal Chain
2022-11-15 - 2022-11-17 | The UAE, United Arab Emirates
“DEVELOPING INTELLIGENCE INTO EVIDENCE” is a workshop on Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Investigation Techniques for Representatives of the Penal Chain of the UAE.
Organised with the Ministry of Interior of the UAE, the activity gathers some 60 representatives from public prosecution, the FIU, police and the Ministry of Interior, among others.
This constitutes an innovative event conducted under the EU Global Facility’s Justice and LEA components. Cross-functional events are crucial to tackling AML/CFT, as they encompass numerous actors of the financial and investigation penal chain.
“Without intelligence, financial investigations cannot succeed. However, it is crucial for the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to collaborate to turn this intelligence into evidence admissible in court. This is why we are here today, to exchange and share information to ensure the best #cooperation in financial investigations,” said David Hotte, Team Leader of the EU GF during the opening session.
Opening speeches were also delivered by Brigadier Abdulaziz al Ahmed, deputy commander of the federal criminal police at MoI, chair of the national team in charge of money laundering investigations in the UAE, and Dr. Tariq Ahmed Al-Rashed from the Federal Public Prosecution.
Delivered by experts from Ireland and the Netherlands the workshop will cover a number of topics, including:

– Initial information in an investigation: Sources of initial information and intelligence (private citizens, security services)
– Sources of initial information and intelligence (private citizens, public services, security)
– Legislative Evidential and Intelligence requirements
– Use of intelligence in ML investigations: fictitious case study
– The seizure, conviction, and non-conviction-based confiscation of assets
– Asset Recovery – Disclosure in other jurisdictions

BO scoping in the Seychelles
2022-11-21 - 2022-11-24 | The Seychelles, Seychelles
From Monday 21st of November 2022 to Thursday 24th, the EU Global Facility is conducting a scoping mission on Beneficial Ownership through probing exercise and training.
The four day onsite activity included

(i) A BO scoping through probing exercise aimed at identifying areas of improvement and possible mid-term activities to be delivered by the Global Facility (e.g. development of the legal framework, its implementation, risk based approach to BO supervision)
(ii) A one day training and discussion on the international BO standards, identification, verification and supervision of BO disclosure requirements.

Working meeting on FATF Rec 8 with authorities/regulators of Jamaica
2022-11-22 | Jamaica, Jamaica
On Tuesday 22 November 2022, the EU Global Facility on AML/CFT organised a working meeting with the authorities of Jamaica, on the topic of FATF Recommendation 8 implementation.
This is the continuation of the work conducted over the few months on the NPO-related recommendation. This follow up meeting aimed to assess the progress made by the partner country, and agree on the steps to be taken by the authorities and regulators of Jamaica for the implementation of the FATF Rec 8 requirements.

Joint Regional workshop on asset recovery for the justice sector of Central Asia states
2022-11-22 - 2022-11-25 | Kazhakstan
This workshop on “Development of the capacities of the Law Enforcement Agencies of the Central Asian Countries in the field of Terrorist Assets Tracing and Recovery” is co-organised by the EU Global Facility and the Law Enforcement in Central Asia (LEICA) project, in close cooperation with the UNODC Office in Kyrgyzstan.
The workshop will seek to improve the capacity of law enforcement agencies in the countries of Central Asia to effectively identify, search, trace and seizure assets intended for the activities of terrorists or terrorist groups.
More specifically:

– To provide information concerning best international practice in the field of detection, search, trace and seizure of assets intended for the activities of terrorists or terrorist groups
– To share practical experience in using the financial investigations tools needed to trace and seize terrorist assets, including financial and criminal intelligence, interagency cooperation and mutual assistance in criminal matters
– Significantly to improve the capacities of the LEA of Central Asian countries in the field of financial investigations focused on search, tracing and seizure of Terrorists Assets.
– To support to mitigate the vulnerabilities of the state institutions in the field of identification, search, trace and seizure of assets intended for the activities of terrorists or terrorist groups.

Launch of TACC in DRC
2022-11-30 - 2022-12-02 | DRC, Congo, Democratic Republic of the
This Wednesday 25 November 2022, the EU Global Facility is in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo for the implementation and kick-off of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC).
This mission will include a drafting exercise of the Technical Assistance Matrix that will support the implementation of the FATF Action plan and the distribution of work among all technical assistance providers.
The formal “kick-off” meeting is foreseen on 1st December in Kinshasa.

Rec 8 training for regulators/authorities of Lesotho
2022-11-30 - 2022-12-02 | Lesotho, Lesotho
This week, upon the request of the authorities of Lesotho and following the European Commission’s approval, the EU Global Facility launched its very first technical assistance activity in Lesotho.
The relevant stakeholders from the African country will attend the online training over the next three days, which will cover standards and requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8 on NPOs.
This is part of a series of technical assistance activities that the EU Global Facility provides to authorities and regulators of partner countries to help them strengthen their AML/CFT frameworks with regards to Not for Profit Organisations
This initial e-training will focus on

(i) Risk based supervision in the context of overall NPO regulation
(ii) How to set up a system of risk based NPO regulation including sector reviews, criteria and risk based focus and
(iii) Implementation of a risk based system.

Working visit on DNFBPs in the Seychelles
2022-12-06 - 2022-12-09 | The Seychelles, Seychelles
Yesterday, the EU Global Facility, led by Key Expert on Regulation/FIU Arnaud STIEN, kicked off a working visit in the Seychelles, which aims to deliver technical assistance to the competent authorities in charge of the supervision of the DNFBPs such as accountants, the gaming sector or legal professions.
In addition to training sessions, meetings were held with members of the Technical AMLCFT Coordination Committee (TACC), to support the effective coordination mechanism and the implementation of the national strategy on AML/CFT.
Entities involved encompassed the FIU, the Central Bank, Financial Services Authority, Anti-corruption Agency, Custom/revenue Authority, Seychelles Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the AMLCFT resident advisor.

Workshop for South Africa authorities/regulators on NPO Sectoral RA
2022-12-07 - 2022-12-09 | South Africa, South Africa
This workshop is targeted at the authorities and regulators from South Africa, with the aim of preparing the NPO Sectoral Risk Assessment.
It is part of a series of technical assistance activities delivered to the partner country to help it improve its AML/CFT framework.

Scoping mission to Uruguay
2022-12-09 - 2022-12-12 | Uruguay, Uruguay
The EU Global Facility, represented by Senior Expert on Justice, Victoria Palau, conducted a scoping mission to Uruguay, which followed the request for technical assistance formulated by the Latin American country.
The aim of this visit, which consisted in a number of thematic meetings with local authorities and relevant entities, was to develop a plan of action to support the establishment of the first specialised prosecution on AML/CFT which will be in force in 2023. This request is related to FATF IO 7.
More specifically, meetings were held with:

– The National Coordination on AML/CFT (SENACLAFT), which will also provide technical assistance to the new prosecution on AML/CFT.
– The General Prosecution Office and the judiciary
– The Uruguayan Police
– The FIU.

All these stakeholders cover the penal chain and are involved in having an increase of ML/TF cases being investigated, prosecuted and sentenced.
This mission was then followed by the EU Global Facility’s participation in the GAFILAT’s Plenary and the Working Group on Training and Development.

Webinar on terrorist financing, organised crime and illicit trafficking in cultural property
2022-12-12
Terrorist financing, organised crime and illicit trafficking in cultural property
The EL PAcCTO Project and the EU Global Facility on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism jointly organised a webinar addressing the topic of terrorist financing and the illicit trafficking of cultural property. More than 100 representatives of Latin American and European Union institutions involved in this type of crime participated in the webinar, which involved 12 specialists from Argentina, Spain, Panama and Peru took part in the webinar, together with representatives from Eurojust, Europol, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.
In addition, an introduction on the topic was delivered by lawyer Marta Suárez Mansilla, Ana Vico, professor at the University Rey Juan Carlos and Donna Yates, professor at the University of Maastricht.
The three experts introduced the characteristics of the illicit market in cultural godos, outlining these conclusions:

• The main characteristic of the illicit trade in cultural property is that the profit is made by moving from the illegal field to the legal one. That is why it is important to focus on the process of importing cultural property.
• The cooperation of traders who are not involved in this illicit market and who are also victims of all the illegal networks is very important. This illegal market must be combated from within the market itself with a unified regulation.
• Looting is a tricky phenomenon as it involves human commitment and a lot of experience. That is why the activity is often carried out on a smaller scale and with small objects such as gold and silver coins. They can be easily hidden and can be melted down if there is no buyer.

Coordination between institutions to combat a complex crime
Terrorism is a global problem and organisations are financed by various means, one of which is the illicit trafficking of cultural property. This is a crime with a particular modus operandi but which can coexist with other crimes such as arms trafficking or human trafficking.
Illicit trafficking in cultural property is fought through intelligence and information, with investigations and subsequent prosecution, but customs is often the first agency to identify the criminal activity. For this reason, Panama’s customs director insisted on the need for coordination between institutions, and for the importance of dealing with the issue from a multidisciplinary point of view.
From the police point of view, experts from the Guardia Civil, the Spanish National Police and Europol presented successful operations such as Operation Pandora and Operation Harmakhis against the illicit trafficking of cultural property. For their part, Europol experts highlighted the importance of the online market, which has grown in recent years. They stressed a the challenge online markets represent for security forces.
Representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Offices of Argentina and Peru outlined their experience in the fight against this type of crime. Neither country has specific cases of terrorist financing, but other crimes such as money laundering linked to trafficking in cultural property do exist.
International experience and harmonisation of legislation
At the European Union level, the Eurojust agency intervenes proactively, always at the request of judicial and prosecutorial authorities, seeking international coordination between jurisdictions in cases with a transnational dimension.
The United Nations focuses on new trafficking routes such as the use of the Cocaine Route that links the Sahel with Latin America to traffic cultural goods. Therefore, there is a risk in Latin America with critical points such as Panama, Ecuador and Colombia.
Together with the representative of the Council of Europe, they emphasised the need to harmonise legislation on this type of crime to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of offenders. In addition, the Council of Europe presented the Nicosia Convention for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which has so far been signed by seven countries worldwide.

Workshop for the Seychelles' authorities/regulators on NPO Sectoral RA
2022-12-12 - 2022-12-14 | The Seychelles, Seychelles
This workshop is targeted at the authorities and regulators from the Seychelles, with the aim of preparing the NPO Sectoral Risk Assessment.
It is part of a series of technical assistance activities delivered to the partner country to help it improve its AML/CFT framework.

Participation in the GAFILAT Plenary in Argentina
2022-12-12 - 2022-12-16 | Argentina, Argentina
Last week, our Senior Expert on Justice Victoria Palau represented the EU Global Facility at the GAFILAT Plenary in Buenos Aires, after a scoping mission conducted in Montevido.
Upon the invitation of the Latin and Central American FSRB, the EU Global Facility participated in the Plenary and the Working Group on Training and Development.
During the meeting, our expert presented the results of the joint regional Conference on Beneficial Ownership, which was jointly organised with GAFILAT in Panama last November.
In parallel to the sessions, she held bilateral meetings with representatives from Argentina, Paraguay 🇵🇾 and Ecuador 🇪🇨 as well as with other technical assistance providers operating in the region, including Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the International Monetary Fund, the OAS etc) to discuss coordination and potential synergies.

MENA Regional Conference on Dealing with Virtual Assets and AML/CFT
2022-12-13 - 2022-12-15 | Jordan
21 countries of MENA region convene to Amman for Virtual Assets conference

More than 120 participants from the 21 countries of the MENA region on Tuesday 13 December 2022 convened to Amman to participate in the Regional Conference on “Dealing with Virtual Assets and AML/CFT”.
Co-organised by the EU Global Facility on Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and the Jordanian National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Committee (NAMLCTFC), with the participation of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), the three-day event hosted by Jordan marks the first high-level event in the field of virtual assets (VAs) in the region.
His Excellency Dr. Adel Al Sharkas, Governor of CBJ and Chairman of the AML/CTF National Committee, emphasised the importance of this conference at the regional level, as the challenges and opportunities are similar and shared among the countries of the region.
“It is essential to draw on the experiences that will be shared at this conference, which will provide an opportunity to build on countries’ strengths, build capacity and upgrade the competencies of national agencies, and update them on the latest developments in international standards issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) associated with activities related to VAs and VA service providers, and risk analysis”.
He added that this conference will contribute to strengthening the capacity to conduct investigations, develop skills, enhance knowledge and enhance expertise, in regards of VAs in order to developing best practices in the field. H.E concluded with thanking the EU Global Facility, the French Embassy, the experts and the countries representatives for their presence in this conference and expressed his best wishes to all.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Alexis Le Cour Grandmaison, French Ambassador to Jordan, underlined the need to put in place an adequate legal framework to identify criminal assets, including virtual assets, as early as possible in the investigation in order to maximise the possibilities of effecting a seizure. He also referred to the decisive action of the French Asset Recovery Agency (AGRASC) “whose recoveries have doubled between 2020 and 2021 to reach 480 million euros. It is important that this activity benefits the public community”.
The event, which will witness the intervention of more than 20 experts from the Americas, Europe and the Arab world, seeks to tackle the causes and existence of AMLCFT risks, and promote cooperation and compliance with the global standards and cooperation in the field of Vas. Ultimately, it seeks to guide respective countries, their competent authorities, and the private sector, on shaping the strategic direction of dealing with VAs, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), and understanding requirements of this direction, i.e. banning or regulating VAs.
“This event is a recognition of the crucial importance of exchanging and sharing best practices between countries from the same region, especially on such an innovative and new topic,” said EU Global Facility Team Leader David Hotte, thanking all participants for their active participation and interest in the topic.
💡 VAs represent an attractive economic opportunity for jurisdictions, but bring along a number of challenges and risks that must be understood and managed for their safe integration within a country’s economy. Amongst other things, are financial crime risks (for example the abuse of VAs to evade sanctions, launder money or finance terrorism), as well as the potential impact on the wider ecosystem. For instance, banks might need to put in place increased/tailored monitoring to bank these operators, and regulators might need to adapt their regulatory and supervisory approaches to target the specific risks brought about by VA operators, whilst guaranteeing a rapid regulatory process and a smooth supervision experience (to maintain a competitive edge against other jurisdictions).

Financial investigations training in Turkiye
2022-12-19 - 2022-12-21 | Turkey, Turkey
Kick off of our first onsite training targeted at law enforcement in #Turkiye 🇹🇷.
Held in Istanbul to the benefit of representatives of the full penal chain involved in countering the financing of terrorism, the course will benefit officials from MASAK FIU, the Gendarmerie, the Turkish National Police, the judiciary, and Customs -among others- coming from all over the country.
During two and a half days, 80 participants will be trained by two experts from the Spanish National Police who will cover different aspects of financial investigations in the specific context of the fight against terrorism.

Training of NPOs on FATF Rec 8 requirements in Zambia
2022-12-19 - 2022-12-21 | Zambia, Zambia
The EU Global Facility concludes the year with an onsite activity in Lusaka, Zambia.
For the next three days, our experts will conduct a workshop to support Zambia in achieving better rating for the implementation of the requirements of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 8, focused on NGOs/NPOs.
The course is attended by representatives of the Financial Intelligence Centre, relevant regulatory bodies of Zambia responsible for the NPO regulation, the National Bank, revenue authorities, the Zambian Police and other Law Enforcement Agencies, as well as representatives of local and international civil society organisations active in Zambia.

Onsite Training of NPOs on FATF Rec 8 requirements in Turkiye
2023-01-17 - 2023-01-18 | Turkey, Turkey
Today, the EU Global Facility organises its very first activity targeted at Turkish Not-for-Profit Organisations in Istanbul 🇹🇷!
This marks the very first onsite capacity building activity with representatives of the civil society in Turkiye, who are coming not only from Istanbul, but also from Ankara and other regions of the partner country.
Centered around the compliance with international requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Rec 8 on NPOs, this workshop is co-organised with the local Turkish NPO –TUSEV and the Global NPO Coalition on FATF.
It involves EU GF experts from the UK, the Netherlands and Georgia, who will spend two days covering topics ranging from consequences of the non-risk based implementation of Rec 8, risk assessment, self-regulation and joint advocacy strategies, among others.
This workshop is part of a series of technical assistance activities carried out by the EU Global Facility in Turkiye, as agreed as part of the workplan designed with the Turkish authorities in 2022.

LEA Financial Investigations Training in Turkiye
2023-01-18 - 2023-01-20 | Turkey, Turkey
A second activity kicks off in Turkiye this week. Along with our workshop for NPOs organised in Istanbul, the EU Global Facility is delivering a training for law enforcement officials in Ankara.
Held under the title “Recognising the nexus between Criminal and Terrorist networks and how they utilise profit from both legal and Illegal Activities”, the training involves different actors from the penal chain including MASAK (Financial Intelligence Unit), Police, Gendarmerie and the Judiciary.
Alongside our Key Expert on Law Enforcement Liam Ennis, two Irish experts will tackle topics related to terrorism in the financial context, namely understanding structures of terrorist groups, links between terrorist business models and crime and lone actor terrorism, among others.
The activity will actively involve the participants, who will be tasked with solving a fictitious case study related to terrorism, crime and money laundering in a designated context.
This workshop is part of a series of technical assistance activities carried out by the EU Global Facility in Turkiye, as agreed as part of the workplan designed with the Turkish authorities in 2022.

Launch of Technical Assistance Coordination Committee in Mozambique
2023-01-20 | Mozambique, Mozambique
The EU Global Facility on AML/CFT is in Maputo, Mozambique, to official launch the implementation of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC).
The formal TACC “kick-off” meeting is foreseen on Friday 20th January in the premises of the European Union Delegation. The event will be attended by Mozambican authorities and representatives of technical assistance providers (IMF, UNODC and World Bank, among others).
The EU Global Facility is currently in #Mozambique 🇲🇿 to launch the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC).
The TACC aims to support and coordinate the country’s efforts to improve its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) efforts
💡 In October 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) included Mozambique in the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, known as the “grey list”.
Mozambique was as such assessed as having strategic deficiencies in its national AML/CFT regime.
Speaking on behalf of the international partners at the TACC launch ceremony, the European Union Ambassador for Mozambique, Antonino Maggiore, highlighted the direct impact of #moneylaundering and terrorist financing on the incidents taking place in Cabo Delgado, reassuring the partners’ commitment to work with the Government towards a timely depart from the list, according to FurtherAfrica.

Follow up e-training of Jamaican Prosecutors and LEAs on Asset Recovery
2023-01-23 - 2023-01-27 | Jamaica, Jamaica
This week, the EU Global Facility continues its engagement with #Jamaica 🇯🇲.

Today marked the first day of an online training, which comes as a follow up of previous e-sessions targeted at Jamaican prosecutors and Law Enforcement Agencies.
Our experts will cover the topic of asset recovery in cases of money laundering and terrorist financing. They will delve into much more details about operations and conduct of relevant agencies in order to achieve efficient asset recovery.
Asset recovery is a key pillar of countries’ approach to AML/CFT. It is vital for national authorities to develop effective systems to trace, seize and confiscate stolen funds and assets, and to return them to the country of origin.

Working visit to Algeria
2023-01-23 - 2023-01-27 | Algeria, Algeria
A delegation from the EU Global Facility is in Algiers from 23rd to 26th January to conduct a working visit with several objectives:

– On Monday, the mission started with a meeting on the technical assistance provided by the EU Global Facility to Algerian authorities, which aims to support the amendment of the Algerian law on AML/CFT. This meeting involved representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Central Office for the Repression of Corruption and the President and members of the CTRF Council (Algeria’s Financial Intelligence Unit).

In addition to discussions on the evolution of laws on AML/CFT around the world, the EU Global Facility experts tackled the question of “are the changes made to the law sufficient for a good alignment with international standards?.”
Later during the day, a workshop was organised to review and analyse the Algerian AML/CFT law, for which the Algerian CTRF requested the Global Facility’s expertise.

From Tuesday to Thursday, different workshops and meetings will be organised to cover the implementation of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC), the technical assistance programme for the Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) sector, and the national risk assessment of virtual assets.
The visit will conclude with a meeting with representatives from the EU Delegation to Algiera.

Participation in the OACPS workshop on AMLCFT
2023-01-26 - 2023-01-30 | Mauritius, Mauritius
The EU Global Facility on AML/CFT, represented by its Team Leader David Hotte, is taking part in the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) workshop on Tax Governance, Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism in Mauritius 🇲🇺.
Tackling the topic of Tax Governance and Compliance with AML/CFT, the five-day event kicked off yesterday, in the presence of H.E Mahen Kumar Seerutum, Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance of Mauritius.
David Hotte was invited to present the work conducted by the EU Global Facility across the ACP region, including its three-year involvement in Mauritius, alongside other technical assistance partners.
During his presentation, he emphasised the importance of subsidiarity in technical assistance, and the need for complementarity between all EU-funded projects and TA providers in partner countries.
“We need to all work together to best support our partners in the region, avoiding duplication of expertise and delivering the most tailored assistance to each country,” he said, insisting that “whilst some challenges are shared by countries in the region, there are also stark specificities that require our experts’ most dedicated attention to ensure efficiency and sustainability of support.”
In parallel to the conference, he also met with EU ambassadors from a number of partner countries in the region, including:
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago , where the EU Global Facility will conduct a scoping mission in the coming weeks to assess the country’s needs with regards to AML/CFT
🇯🇲 Jamaica, where the project has been delivering technical assistance activities since October 2020
🇭🇹 Haïti, whose authorities have been soliciting the EU Global Facility for future support on AML/CFT
As well as 🇲🇿 Mozambique, which witnessed the successful launch of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee (TACC) last week in the premises of the European Union Delegation in Maputo. The event was attended by Mozambican authorities and representatives of technical assistance providers (IMF, UNODC and World Bank, among others).

BO Operating Model and BOR implementation training in South Africa
2023-01-30 - 2023-02-02 | South Africa, South Africa
The EU Global Facility’s Key Expert on Beneficial Ownership Alexandre Taymans is in Pretoria, South Africa 🇿🇦, this week, to oversee a training on Beneficial Ownership.
Starting on Monday 30 January 2023, the visit was preceded by an online briefing session with senior management of the FIU, Central Bank, and other key stakeholders, which served to gather background information and better assess the desired outcomes and areas of focus for the January mission.
Today, strategic discussions began at the FIU offices, gathering all members of the BO inter departmental committee (BO IDC) in South Africa, namely the Financial Intelligence Center, the Reserve Bank of South Africa, the Companies And Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), the prosecution services, the law enforcement services, and tax authorities, among others.
Topics covered during the first three days will include:

– BO transparency international standards and practices
– Strategic and operational challenges and solutions
– The role of BO register in the setting-up of an effective BO Operating Model

On the fourth day, participants shall be divided into smaller groups to review the application of BO transparency and relevant challenges in their specific domain, through sessions tailored respectively to SAMLIT members and law enforcement on one hand and to the BO IDC members on the other.
These sessions will consist of real-life case studies in order to 1) promote debate amongst participants 2) address the actual issues that participant face and; 3) provide pragmatic proposals to address them.
Sessions on BO register implementation and management will go through the implementation life cycle of a BO register and discuss the steps that South Africa should take to anticipate the planning and implementation of South Africa’s centralised BO register.

Scoping and training on BOR implementation and management in Mozambique
2023-02-06 - 2023-02-09 | Mozambique, Mozambique
Ministry inaugurates first activity on Beneficial Ownership Registers in Mozambique
Led by the EU Global Facility on AML/CFT, this activity comes as part of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee launched two weeks ago to support Mozambique’s efforts to exit the FATF Grey List.
Maputo, 6 February 2023 – The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Manuel Malunga, opened this Monday a workshop on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) organised by the EU-funded project EU Global Facility on AML/CFT.
Organised in collaboration with the Mozambican authorities, the event comes as part of the technical assistance activities delivered by the EU Global Facility to the partner country on the topic of Beneficial Ownership, which officially started at the end of 2022.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Manuel Malunga said that the implementation of money laundering and terrorist financing reforms, recommended by the national strategy, constitutes a priority for the Government of Mozambique, including strengthening compliance with obligations to prevent the phenomenon in highly vulnerable in Mozambique, such as banks, insurance companies, real estate, exchange offices, casinos, law offices and gaming houses, among others.
Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Maputo, Paula Vazquez Horyaans, noted: “Money Laundering and the financing of terrorism pose a serious threat to the integrity of the economy and to the security of citizens in all countries. The #EU and its Member States have gone a long way fighting these crimes. We are happy to share with Mozambique our experience”
The three-day workshop will allow participants to exchange and further their expertise on the Financial Action Task Force standards on availability and accessibility of beneficial ownership information, the assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with the misuse of legal persons and arrangements in Mozambique, the design and implementation of mitigation measures as well as emerging trends and specific topics related to the ever increasing importance of beneficial ownership transparency throughout jurisdictions across the world.
For his part, Team Leader of the EU Global Facility David Hotte rejoiced at the very successful partnership between the EU and Mozambique, stressing: “only two weeks after the launch of the Technical Assistance Coordination Committee in Maputo, the EU Global Facility is already here, onsite, to deliver concrete but also precisely tailored support activities to the country.”
“This is a proof of the reactivity and efficiency of our group of experts, and also of the proactive and collaborative approach of the Mozambican authorities to strengthen their AML/CFT frameworks, which should be commended,” he added.
Mozambique’s efforts regarding the establishment of a beneficial ownership register is being supported by EU Global Facility together with the World Bank

Scoping mission to Trinidad and Tobago
2023-02-06 - 2023-02-10
The EU Global Facility was in Trinidad and Tobago last week, to conduct a scoping mission aimed at evaluating the current state of play of the country with regards to AML/CFT and assess its request for technical assistance submitted to the European Commission.
Team Leader David Hotte and Key Expert on Law Enforcement Liam Ennis conducted a series of meetings with relevant authorities including the General Attorney, the Head of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), Dawn Spicer as well as her Deputy Executive Director, Loxly Ricketts.
They also met with the Head of the EU Delegation to Trinidad and Tobago, Peter Cavendish, with whom they discussed the way forward and proposed areas of technical assistance activities to be proposed to the Caribbean island.

E-workshop on Sectoral NPO Risk Assessment in Argentina
2023-02-13 | Argentina, Argentina
The EU Global Facility’s engagement on FATF Recommendation 8 with Argentina 🇦🇷 continues with an online workshop conducted today.
Focused on the sectoral NPO Risk Assessment, the meeting will also pave the ground for the onsite workshops for Argentinian authorities and NPOs planned for late March 2023.
The EU Global Facility’s engagement and cooperation with Argentina started in August 2022 and is expected to cover a number of other AML/CFT-related issues such as supervision of financial and DNFSPs, support to the FIU, improving effectiveness of financial investigation and criminal justice system, beneficial ownership and virtual assets, among others.

AML/CFT Financing - Enhanced Investigations and Sanctions Awareness Workshop in Panama
2023-02-13 - 2023-02-15 | Panama, Panama
The onsite workshop on “Enhanced Investigations and Sanctions Awareness in a Terrorist Context” will cover the modalities of terrorist financing, money laundering typologies, movement of funds or targeted financial sanctions, among others.
Delivered by two Spanish Officers specialised in AML/CFT investigations, the training seeks to provide real-life examples of criminal financial investigations.
Ultimately, it seeks to strengthen investigative skills of Law Enforcement Agencies of the country.

Inception meeting for AML/CFT Moot court
2023-02-13 - 2023-02-16 | Sweden, Sweden
Our Key Expert on Justice/CSO Mamuka Jgenti is in Sweden with partners from the Siracusa International Institute to hold the first inception meeting of the AML/CFT Moot court working group.
During those three days, representatives of the two entities will define the workplan, detailed objectives and modalities of the future Moot court.
As Swedish model and experience shall be used as a model, relevant bilateral meetings shall also be held with the selected institutions and experts.

Closing event on Jordan Legal Persons and Legal Arrangements Risk Assessment
2023-03-05 - 2023-03-07 | Jordan
Closing event on Jordan Legal Persons and Legal Arrangments Risk Assessment launched in Amman
AMMAN, 5 March 2023 – The EU Global Facility on Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and the Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Unit (AMLU) on Sunday launched a three days workshop on the topic of Jordan Legal Persons and Legal Arrangements (LP/LA) Risk Assessment Results in Amman.
The event, which constitutes a milestone in the country’s fight on AML/CFT, marks the closing of the work started by the EU Global Facility with the Jordanian authorities in August 2021. A number of stakeholders from the AMLU, the Central Bank of Jordan and the Companies Control Department along with competent authorities have worked together on designing and implementing the assessment of the AML/CFT risks and the misuse of legal persons and legal arrangements, using a leading-edge methodology.

In her opening remarks, Head of the Anti-Money Laundering Unit of Jordan, Samya Abu Sharif, noted: “the topic of today’s workshop is an indication of the important role of all national agencies in promoting the necessary actions to combat the risks of money-laundering and terrorist financing associated with legal persons and legal arrangements at the national level.”
“Understanding the potential threats, and strengthening the system to achieve increased transparency for the legal persons and the legal arrangements and developing national programmes in partnership with the private sector to reduce their impact is a crucial objective of thjs assessment work.”
“The results of the assessment presented today will help us better understand and be directed towards high-risk aspects in order to prevent criminals from exploiting legal persons and legal arrangements in ML/TF crimes,” she added.
For his part, EU Global Facility Key Expert on Beneficial Ownership Alexandre Taymans commended the “successful work and important efforts put together by Jordan to conduct this exercise in such a structured and timely manner”.
“As the dissemination of the findings of this assessment are now launched, such a milestone calls for and paves the way for an enhanced engagement between competent authorities, as well as with the private sector to ensure that the recommendations and the mitigating measures identified by the working group will be fully implemented before the next update to the risk assessment,” he stated.
The EU Global Facility has developed a dedicated methodology for the risk assessment of legal persons and arrangements to assist partner jurisdictions with a methodology that can be tailored to their specific context.
This activity is a milestone for any country implementing a BO disclosure framework as it will help them identify the risk jurisdictions are facing from the misuse of legal vehicles both at national and international level. This risk assessment is also to be put in the context of the renewed and increasing focus the FATF’s new recommendation 24 (April 2022) has put on this challenging exercise for jurisdictions considering the scope of such exercise, the number and variety of stakeholders involved and the level of technical expertise it requires.
