Representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine came together for a regional workshop focused on strengthening oversight of businesses and professions that are vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing. These include real estate agents, lawyers, accountants, auditors, notaries, gambling, lotteries, and dealers in precious metals. All these sectors should act as gatekeepers for the financial system as they handle large transactions and complex financial structures but have historically received far less scrutiny than banks and other financial institutions.
International assessments have repeatedly flagged weak oversight of these non-financial businesses as one of the most persistent shortcomings in the region's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems. The workshop aimed to help participants understand where their current rules and practices can be improved and introduced updated international standards that raise the bar for how supervising of these businesses should be carried out and evaluated.
Closing the existing gaps in oversight and creating strong systems to supervise these types of businesses, means less opportunities for illegal money to enter the regular economy. Thus, it was important to ensure that participants of the workshop gained useful, practical tools, learned from examples of suspicious behaviour in this sector, being able to develop and further implement action plans. This process not only strengthens the skills of individuals and capacities of institutions but also supports greater cooperation among countries in the region, helping to turn good intentions into real action.
This event is part of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme "Partnership for Good Governance", co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the regional project on "Strengthening measures to prevent and combat economic crime in the Eastern Partnership region."
