The Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division is continuing to support the Slovak Republic in planning and preparing its next Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF) National Risk Assessment (NRA) through the application of the Council of Europe’s methodology.
Following the launching workshop of the new ML/TF NRA process held on 16 June 2023, this second workshop aimed to further support the national stakeholders by preparing them for the phase of data collection and analysis for the NRA.
Over 30 representatives from key agencies of the national AML/CFT system, including the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Police Force Praesidium (FIU), the National Crime Agency, the National Central Office of Special Crimes, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank of Slovakia, the Slovak Banking Association, the Gambling Regulatory Authority and the Academy of Police Force participated actively in the event.
In addition to building further capacity for this important phase of the new Slovak NRA process, the workshop on data collection and analysis for the ML/TF NRA of the Slovak Republic also served to reactivate the discussion and cooperation between the different authorities towards this endeavour, in the context of turnover in the management and staff of some of the institutions involved. The discussions were very practical and helped clarify and outline the next steps of the process, as well as discuss how to address concrete challenges for its implementation, such as workload distribution among authorities and staff within authorities for the collection and processing of data, composition of specific teams, sequencing and timelines for the different phases, and work coordination processes for data collection and analysis as well as drafting and validation of the NRA report. The dedicated expertise provided by the Council of Europe usefully addressed participants’ questions on the application of this methodology, in comparison with their previous experience with other methodologies.
In conclusion to the workshop, participants expressed more confidence about the process and a clearer understanding of the next steps to be taken as well as their respective involvement in them. The Slovak FIU will coordinate the continuation of the process, with support as needed from the Council of Europe in this important undertaking.
This event was organised in the framework of the joint TSI Project on “Enhancing the effectiveness of the AML Framework in Slovakia” funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.
