In 2021/2022 the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division worked with Czech authorities in mapping of services and products offered by lawyers and notaries (legal professionals) in the Czech Republic which fall under the scope of the AML/CFT legislation and obligations. The results of the analysis were included in the Technical Paper “Anti-Money Laundering and Lawyers and Notaries in the Czech Republic”.
As a follow-up to this Technical Paper, the authorities requested further support in learning about international good practices of regulating and supervising legal professionals from an anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) perspective. Therefore, on 15 November 2022, the ECCD organised the workshop “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision of legal professionals: comparative practices”. The event took place in Prague, Czech Republic and was attended by representatives of the Financial Analytical Office (FAO, Czech Financial Intelligence Unit), Ministry of Justice, Notarial Chamber, Czech Bar Association and the Council of Europe.
In the first part of the workshop, Czech authorities had the opportunity to gain knowledge about the legislative and regulatory AML/CFT landscape of Germany, the existing obligations and reporting requirements for German lawyers and notaries, as well as on the guidance provided by the supervisory authorities. The second part of the workshop focused on the existing practices in France. Participants were provided for instance with an overview of the legal professionals’ sector in France, with a summary of situations in which the legal professionals are subject to AML/CFT provisions, as well as with a thorough description of the supervisory system in the jurisdiction, the risks identified in the latest National Risk Assessment, as well as with the sector-specific recommendations from the last Mutual Evaluation Report of France.
This event was organised within the framework of the Structural Reform Support Programme project on “Enhancing effectiveness of the AML/CFT regime in the Czech Republic”, funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Structural Reform Support and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe.