On 23-24 November 2020, the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Financial Monitoring Service of Georgia (Financial Intelligence Unit of Georgia) organised an online training on “Anti-money laundering/countering financing of terrorism compliance in the gambling sector, including land based and online casinos”.
The event brought together 33 representatives of competent authorities (regulatory and supervisory institutions) and of the gambling business sector (land based and online casinos) to raise their awareness on international standards on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). Participants got acquainted with the main principles of a Risk Based Approach (RBA) to AML/CFT, KYC (Know your customer), effective AML/CFT supervision, reporting of suspicious transactions and the importance of interagency cooperation.
The Council of Europe expert enriched the discussion by sharing the Maltese experience and practical examples of the application of the standards to both online and land-based casinos. Linking the training contents directly to the current Georgian reality, the representative of the Financial Monitoring Service of Georgia (FIU of Georgia) discussed the current national AML/CFT requirements and the risks identified under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report of Georgia (2019) for the Georgian gambling business sector.
Participants benefited from the discussion held between the Council of Europe expert, the representative of the FMS and the gambling business sector on challenges met during their professional activity and their possible solutions. In conclusion, they unanimously recognized the importance of close cooperation and coordination between the relevant institutions and the private sector in order to overcome the deficiencies identified in the 5th MONEYVAL Evaluation Report of Georgia (September 2020).
This activity was organised within the EU/CoE Partnership for Good Governance Project “Enhancing the systems of prevention and combating corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing in Georgia” (PGG II-Georgia), launched in January 2019.
