The PGGII Project against money laundering and terrorism financing in Azerbaijan continues to support the development of the capacities of national authorities to detect, investigate and prosecute economic crime, through a series of advanced targeted training courses.
Within this support, a training on “Tactical Analysis in Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism” was organised via videoconferencing over five days from the 30th of November to the 4th of December 2020, bringing together 17 representatives of the Financial Monitoring Service, Anti-Corruption General Directorate, General Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy, Central Bank, State Security Service and State Customs Committee. The training aimed at enhancing the capacities of Azerbaijan’s practitioners to better analyse suspicious transaction reports, evaluate and collate information, and produce quality analytical assessments with a view to support the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes.
The training delivery format combined experts’ presentations provided during plenary sessions and exercises based on case studies during breakout sessions. The breakout sessions allowed to boost participant engagement through focused discussions and practical application of the theoretical aspects covered by the experts. The five-day programme thus led the practitioners to explore in detail the different functions of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), such as the information reception and operational analysis functions, including preliminary research, analysis/investigation process management, analysis techniques, as well as the FIU’s dissemination function and provision of feedback to obliged entities. Additional topics covered included the main principles of the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, new Financial Action Task Force requirements, transparency of beneficial ownership, certain money laundering typologies such as trade-based money laundering, the use of cash and gold in money laundering, and an overview of counter terrorist financing. This integrated approach allowed both FIU staff and law enforcement practitioners to sharpen knowledge and skills of relevance to their daily work, as well as to practice effective working methods together.
This activity was organised within the framework of the EU/CoE Partnership for Good Governance II Project on “Strengthening anti-money laundering and asset recovery in Azerbaijan” (PGG II-AZ) which is funded jointly by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.