A regular meeting of the CIS Financial Intelligence Units’ Heads Council was held in Minsk on November 26.
Representatives from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and the CIS Executive Committee attended the meeting.
The following delegations were also invited to participate in the event:
– Azerbaijan;
– Turkmenistan;
– The CIS Anti-Terrorism Center;
– The Bureau for Coordinating the Fight against Organized Crime and Other Dangerous Types of Crime on the Territories of the CIS Member States;
– The Secretariat of the Coordinating Council of Prosecutors General;
– The Council of Border Troops Commanders;
– The Coordinating Council of Heads of Tax (Financial) Investigation Authorities;
– The Council of Heads of Migration Authorities;
– The International Training and Methodology Centre for Financial Monitoring;
– The Secretariats of the EAG and the CSTO;
– Representatives from Iran, China, the United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Cuba, and Serbia.
Opening the meeting, CIS Deputy Secretary-General Nurlan Seitimov noted that combating money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is one of the most important areas of work to ensure the security of the CIS member states.
Nurlan Seitimov recalled that the benchmark for further enhancing the effectiveness of joint activities is the Concept of Cooperation in Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, developed by the Council. Building upon this Concept, a new Treaty in this field was signed and entered into force in 2021.
A significant milestone was the establishment of the International Centre for Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment.
Nurlan Seitimov also expressed appreciation to the Council members for their effective work in the field of personnel training. He expressed confidence that the decisions adopted during the meeting would mark another step in strengthening practical cooperation among the financial intelligence units of the CIS member states.
During the meeting, Council members:
– Discussed issues related to identified risks and threats within the Commonwealth, considering the current operational situation;
– Considered topics related to combating financial pyramids, neutralizing threats of the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering, and combating their use in terrorist financing, as well as identifying professional money launderers;
– Summarized the activities of the Working Group on the Information Exchange System among the CIS Financial Intelligence Units;
– Considered issues of the Council’s interaction with relevant international organizations;
– Discussed the activities of the project team of the International Centre for Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment;
– Outlined work plans for the upcoming year.
The next meeting of the CIS Financial Intelligence Units’ Heads Council is planned for 2026 in Turkmenistan.