Leonid Anfimov: Belarus is an active participant in the international system for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism

The Plenary meeting is the EAG supreme body which considers policy issues related to the assessment of compliance of the national systems for combating money laundering and terrorist financing (AML / CFT) of the EAG member states with the FATF recommendations (Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering) and also determines the EAG strategy and activities.

The current Plenary meeting gathered about 250 participants. The event was attended by delegations of EAG member states: Belarus, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as representatives of the 10  states and 15 international organizations having the status of "observer" in the organization.

 

In his address to the EAG Plenary Mr. Leonid Anfmov, Chairman of the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus, noted that our country highly appreciates the EAG activities and its support provided to strengthen the “anti-laundering” system of our state. Leonid Anfmov said that “Belarus has always supported and will continue to support the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, being an active participant in the international system to counter these threats. I hope that the results of the EAG Plenary week in Minsk will not only strengthen the cooperation of countries of the Eurasian region in the area of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, but also make a significant contribution to the construction of a common secure economic space”.

The Chairman of the State Control Committee also read out the welcome address on behalf of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Rumas and noted that the meeting would contribute to the exchange of experience and best practices.

The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism is an international intergovernmental organization was established in 2004 to ensure effective cooperation at the regional level and the integration of EAG member states into the international system of combating money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Belarus hosted such an authoritative international forum for the second time. The previous EAG Plenary Week was held in Minsk in 2013.

The significance of the current EAG Plenary meeting for Belarus is also due to the fact that in 2018-2019 will be held an international assessment of the Belarusian "anti-laundering" system for its compliance with international standards. The main assessment stage will take place in March 2019, when EAG expert evaluators will visit Belarus.

It should be noted that the previous assessment of the national “anti-laundering” system of Belarus was conducted 10 years ago and, in general, had positive results.