OSCE Centre in Astana helps build capacity to combat money laundering

ASTANA, 26 March 2012 - A four-day training course for Kazakhstani government officials on international mechanisms and tools to combat money laundering and terrorism financing began in Astana today. The course was jointly organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, Kazakhstan’s Financial Police, and the US Embassy to Kazakhstan.

The event brought together some 40 senior officers, experts, judges and prosecutors from the Financial Police and the Financial Police Academy, the Supreme Court, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Finance’s Committee on Financial Monitoring (FIU), and the non-governmental Association on Countering the Laundering of Illegal Assets.

The training course is being taught by international experts from Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The course materials, which were prepared with the Centre’s support, were designed to meet the specific needs of the Kazakhstani stakeholders and include best practices in investigative techniques related to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.

“Our Centre supports the further development of Kazakhstan’s legal and institutional framework as well as practical skills in combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. Capacity building and international co-operation are an effective means to prevent and counter organized crime and related threats to security and development,” said Jeannette Kloetzer, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana.

"Today's course addresses many important issues concerning fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism from an international perspective, which is useful for the day-to-day work of financial police officers and representatives of other Kazakhstani law enforcement agencies," said Rustam Ibraimov, the Head of the Financial Police Academy.

The training is a part of a series of activities related to good governance in Kazakhstan organized by the Centre in co-operation with national stakeholders and international partners.