On 27 and 29 April 2022, the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision of Georgia (SARAS), organised two targeted on-line trainings on “Anti-money laundering/countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance” for auditors and accountants.
These trainings are part of a sequence of activities aimed at supporting the effective and efficient compliance of non-financial institutions with AML/CFT requirements. Through these project actions, a total of 160 accountants and auditors have improved their AML/CFT knowledge and identified actionable approaches in facing their daily professional challenges.
Participants had the opportunity to discuss the applicable international AML/CFT standards with a focus on the sector-specific obligations. The trainings focused for instance on the specificities of the risk-based approach and the Customer Due Diligence process; the role of auditors/accountants in establishing and advising companies; the methods available for the identification of suspicious transactions; and the effective cooperation between the supervisory authority, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the reporting entities.
The trainings were informed by the key findings of the MONEYVAL 5th Round Evaluation Report of Georgia 2020 and its recommendations targeting auditors and accountants, as well as by the National Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Risk Assessment of Georgia (2019) which details the money laundering and terrorism financing risks to which auditors/accountants are exposed. Both framing documents were presented by a representative of the Financial Monitoring Service (Georgian FIU) who took the opportunity to also clarify and discuss with participants the AML/CFT legal framework.
This capacity-building activity contributed to Georgian authorities’ efforts in implementing MONEYVAL recommendations, which included the establishment of effective AML/CFT supervision, and the development of a sound understanding by supervisors and obliged entities of the AML/CFT risks associated with the sector, as well as of their AML/CFT obligations.
The activity was organised in the framework of the project “Enhancing the Systems of Prevention and Combating Corruption, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Georgia”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II.