The Council of Europe organised a training on “Transparency of beneficial ownership as an effective mechanism to combat the misuse of legal entities for illicit purposes” which took place on 21 - 22 April 2022 within the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe “Project against Economic Crime in Kosovo” (PECK III).
The training aimed at strengthening the skills of financial and supervisory institutions in relation to beneficial ownership (BO) regime and increase their practical knowledge on the identification of Ultimate Beneficial Owners of legal entities and legal arrangements.
The training was conducted for 38 representatives of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Central Bank of Kosovo and commercial banks. In addition, representatives of Central Bank of Montenegro and reporting entities of Albania and North Macedonia also participated and shared their knowledge and practical experiences.
The participants worked on case-based scenarios on issues of identification and verification of the ultimate beneficial owner. They increased their understanding on:
i) typologies of misuse of legal persons and legal arrangements,
ii) complex ownership structures,
iii) the use of effective mechanisms on combating the misuse and;
iv) cooperation and access to information on BO of both domestic and foreign legal entities.
Additionally, participants were introduced to international standards on preventing the misuse of legal persons and legal arrangements and discussed and learned from good regional practices on enhancing the transparency of BO.
A ‘Step-by-step Guide on identification of Ultimate Beneficial Owners” is developed by PECK III Project to complement the knowledge and will assist the reporting entities in meeting their obligations under the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing.
The activity was organised within the framework of the “Project against Economic Crime in Kosovo” (PECK III), jointly funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the latter.
