The third Steering Committee meeting of the joint project on “Strengthening anti-money laundering and asset recovery in Azerbaijan” took place on 11 March 2022. The project is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe’s Partnership for Good Governance (PGGII) programme.

Members of the Steering Committee discussed the progress in implementation of activities to date and, considered and adopted the list of planned activities until the end of the project. Representatives of national partner institutions described how the support received from the project benefited their efforts and the ongoing national processes in the areas of anti-money laundering/countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) and asset recovery.

For instance, some of the practical advice provided in the project’s extensive assessment and recommendations on the national asset recovery framework are already being taken forward by the concerned authorities for enhancing their national asset recovery system. Another example regards a series of targeted capacity-building activities on national and sectorial risk assessment for money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) in Azerbaijan. Partners highlight as highly beneficial the sharing of practical knowledge facilitated by the project in the area of beneficial ownership transparency, which fed into updated legislative proposals; the support provided to the national awareness-raising effort on emerging risks related to virtual assets; or the further development of capacities of key national agencies involved in the fight against ML/TF and the recovery of proceeds from crime.

The Steering Committee also allowed the beneficiary institutions to highlight their current needs and future priorities, including further technical support to legislative reforms as well as continuous capacity building. [COE-ECCD1]

The event provided an opportunity to reconfirm the European Union and Council of Europe’s support to the government’s efforts in the AML/CFT area through a solid partnership. National authorities, on their part, reaffirmed their commitment to pursuing cooperation on the ground, to foster actions for combating money laundering and terrorist financing and recovering proceeds from economic crimes in a more efficient manner.

This event was organised within the framework of the project “Strengthening anti-money laundering and asset recovery in Azerbaijan”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe under their Partnership for Good Governance II joint programme.