Yury Chikhanchin, President of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of the CIS Member States (CIS CH FIUs) and Director of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring), attended the 35th Meeting of the Coordination Council of Prosecutors General of the CIS Member States, held in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan.
Prosecutors General of the CIS countries, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Imangali Tasmagambetov, Head of the CIS Anti-Terrorist Center Evgeny Sysoev, and other officials also spoke at the meeting.
In his speech, Yury Chikhanchin emphasized the need to expand information exchange between financial intelligence units and other relevant authorities to minimize common risks, which include the use of new technologies for illicit purposes. He stressed the importance of interagency cooperation in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as the role of Prosecutors General in preparing for the forthcoming round of mutual evaluations of national anti-money laundering systems.
“The experience of financial investigations and criminal prosecutions in CIS countries shows that a considerable number of crimes leave a financial footprint. This makes it possible not only to record criminal activity but also to prevent it including through joint asset tracing and recovery. The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation is an integral part of the AML/CFT cooperation framework and a signatory to a special interagency instruction. As a result of cooperative processing of interagency inquiries, financial elements have been confirmed in more than 70% of criminal cases,” stated Mr. Chikhanchin.
He also provided updates on cooperative work under the International Risk Assessment Center (IRAC) established at the direction of the heads of the CIS member states. IRAC database stores data on dozens of thousands of companies and individuals of operational interest. Competent authorities use this information to conduct investigations.
Mr. Chikhanchin noted the high effectiveness of joint operations such as the Channel anti-drug operation and Barrier anti-terrorist operation, involving CIS CH FIUs members.
The speaker emphasized the problem of involvement of young people in illegal activities. One of the counter-measures in this regard is outreach and educational measures. The Rosfinmonitoring, together with partner organizations and supported by the heads of delegations of CIS CH FIUs and EAG countries, conducts the International Olympiad on Financial Security. This year’s finals brought together 600 school and university students from 40 countries.
During his visit to Tajikistan, the Head of Rosfinmonitoring Yury Chikhanchin, will hold a series of bilateral discussions.
