The Council of Europe’s Economic Crime and Cooperation Division, holds a multi-country conference on “AML/CFT Supervision of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions and Virtual Assets Service Providers: Practical Application of Sector-Specific Measures”, in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The conference is held as part of Lithuania’s presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The event was opened by the Vice-Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania Mr Arnoldas ABRAMAVIČIUS, who reiterated the authorities’ high-level commitment towards the successful implementation of ongoing reforms aimed at strengthening the AML/CFT regime in the country. In his address he invited all countries to globally unite in fighting money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF), particularly highlighting the risk coming from non-democratic regimes using ML techniques and methods to circumvent international sanctions.
The conference is organised in cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Lithuanian Financial Crime Investigation Service (Lithuanian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and is attended by representatives of competent authorities from 23 jurisdictions.
This conference is designed to support the Lithuanian FIU in addressing recommendations from MONEYVAL’s Fifth Round Mutual Evaluation Report and further improving effective implementation of risk-based AML/CFT supervision of financial institutions and Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) and Virtual Assets Service Providers (VASPs). Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to all participating jurisdictions to exchange on challenges and good practices in the supervision of the DNFBPs and VASPs.
Participants also benefited from an exchange with DG FISMA representative regarding the future role of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) in enhancing the risk-based AML/CFT supervisory framework in the EU, as well as the expected changes to be brought by the new AML regulation.
The event was organised within the framework of the Technical Support Instrument initiative “Strengthening Risk-Based AML/CFT Supervision in Lithuania”, co-funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.
