The Council of Europe, within the joint EU / Council of Europe Programme “Regional Support to Reinforce Human Rights, Rule of Law and Democracy in the Southern Mediterranean” (South Programme IV) conducted a two-day regional training on financial investigations of corruption, money laundering and financing of terrorism.

The event which took place on 2 and 3 February 2022, targeted representatives of relevant beneficiary institutions and practitioners from the Southern Mediterranean. The training was conducted based on Guidelines on financial investigation in corruption, money laundering and financing of terrorism in Southern Mediterranean which were developed for this purpose and were shared with the participants prior to the event.

The event itself focused on enhancing the practical knowledge and raising awareness on: the challenges and methods used in conducting financial investigations of corruption, money laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/FT) offences; the importance of intelligence information; and effective inter-agency, regional and international cooperation of competent authorities when carrying out investigations. Furthermore, the participants had an opportunity to learn and exchange views on the threats posed by cryptocurrencies and virtual assets and related investigative challenges.

The participants engaged in the discussion of case studies on economic crime, special investigative means, Mutual Legal Assistance requests, asset recovery and related issues.

The activity was organised in the framework of the project “Promotion of Good Governance: Fight against Corruption and Money Laundering” (SNAC 4) under the joint EU / Council of Europe Programme “Regional Support to Reinforce Human Rights, Rule of Law and Democracy in the Southern Mediterranean” (South Programme IV).