Back Outcome of the 15th Plenary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties

Outcome of the 15th Plenary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties

The Conference of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS no. 198) held its 15th meeting on 9 and 10 November 2023.

Under its monitoring procedures, the COP examined a report in respect of Estonia, which became a Party to the Convention in January 2023. It adopted a thematic monitoring report, which updates and amends its existing monitoring reports for the years 2018 to 2021.

The COP adopted also follow-up reports on the implementation of Article 11 (Previous decisions) for Montenegro, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Türkiye, and on Article 25 (Confiscated property) for Armenia, Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, San Marino, and Serbia. In addition, a follow- up report was adopted on Article 14 (Postponement of suspicious transactions) in respect of the Russian Federation.

The COP agreed the procedures to be initiated in relation to Parties which have not demonstrated sufficient progress. Other topical issues discussed by the Conference of the Parties included a review of existing declarations and reservations, the preparation of a future additional protocol to the Convention, the possible impact of the revised Financial Action Task Force standards on asset recovery on the monitoring modalities of the mechanism. It also held a session on best practices to implement Article 6 of the Convention (management of frozen or seized property), to which several Parties contributed.

The COP discussed and approved its objectives and work plan for 2024-2026.

Finally, the Conference of the Parties elected Ms Oxana Gisca (Republic of Moldova) as President, and Ms Claudia Elion (The Netherlands) as Vice-President, each for a two-year term starting in 2024.  It re-elected Mr Azer Abbasov (Azerbaijan) and Mr Aram Kirakossian (Armenia) for a last two-year term as Bureau members, and elected Mr Muhammed Karaca (Türkiye) for a first term.

For more:

  • See List of Decisions of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS no. 198)
17/11/2023
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At a glance

The Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS No. 198, the Criminal asset Recovery Convention), which entered into force on 1 May 2008, is the first comprehensive international treaty covering both the prevention and the control of money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It is a key convention of the Council of Europe, which reinforces current global standards by setting, inter alia, specific requirements with respect to preventative money laundering and terrorism financing regimes, freezing, seizure and confiscation measures, the management of frozen and seized property,  asset sharing between Parties,  financial intelligence units,  international co-operation and other aspects. The Convention addresses the fact that quick access to financial information on assets held by criminal organisations, including terrorist groups, is the key to successful preventive and repressive measures, and ultimately it is the best way to stop them.

The Convention established a mechanism to ensure the proper implementation by the Parties of its provisions through a Conference of Parties. Its monitoring procedure complements the work of the relevant bodies which monitor the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force  (FATF) standards, namely the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and the FATF. The action of the Conference of the Parties is central to the fight against organised crime and contributes to the Council of Europe’s action against corruption, human trafficking, cybercrime and economic crime in general.