On 9 June 2022 the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division and Czech authorities organised an awareness raising workshop “Prevention of Proliferation Financing in the Private Sector”, as a targeted outreach activity towards the representatives of military items manufacturers, dual use items manufacturers and trading and export companies.
The Workshop was conducted in cooperation with the Czech authorities, namely the Financial Analytical Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, whose representatives delivered presentations on the national legal framework and activities undertaken by the authorities to assess proliferation financing risks in the Czech Republic. For instance, the authorities presented the Proliferation Financing National Risk Assessment (PF NRA) process pursuant to the PF NRA Methodology developed and provided to the authorities by the Council of Europe. Furthermore, the authorities’ representatives delivered comprehensive presentations on the relevant licensing regime in the Czech Republic regarding foreign trade in dual-use goods and military material.
In the second part of the event, private sector representatives had the opportunity to get a better understanding of the private sector compliance good practices in prevention of proliferation financing. Furthermore, the participants expanded their knowledge on the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) international and national control frameworks. Moreover, the presentation delivered by the Council of Europe expert provided examples of private sector entities that could be potentially impacted by proliferation financing, as well as a wide range of current and emerging proliferation financing typologies. Finally, a particular emphasis was put on the practical recommendations to the private sector on how to effectively manage proliferation financing risks.
The Workshop was a follow-up to the previous awareness-raising event on proliferation financing risks and trends held on 21 April 2022, which was targeted towards representatives of obliged entities, such as banks, insurance companies, virtual assets service providers, lawyers, accountants, tax advisors and auditors with participation of representatives from relevant institutions of other EU Member States such as Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania and the Slovak Republic.
This event was organised within the framework of the Structural Reform Support Programme project on “Enhancing effectiveness of the AML/CFT regime in the Czech Republic”, funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Structural Reform Support and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe.