OSCE trains non-financial entities in preventing money laundering, financing terrorism

ASTANA, 3 May 2012 – An OSCE training course on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) for Kazakhstani non-financial businesses and professions has taken place today in Astana.

The workshop was organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana in partnership with the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Committee under the Ministry of Finance.

The course brought together 55 representatives of designated non-financial businesses and professions, including lawyers, notaries, accountants and other independent legal professionals, to study and discuss international AML/CFT instruments, standards and practices in the non-financial sector.

“The course will help participants learn about mechanisms to prevent money laundering and actions that can be taken to avoid the misuse of non-financial businesses and professions’ operations,” said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana. “The Centre is pleased to support the sharing of OSCE participating States’ experience in this area.”

“Practical skills on how to counter the laundering of illegal revenue streams and prevent the financing of terrorism are extremely important for representatives of the non-financial sector, state bodies, and non-governmental organizations. The training course also encourages co-operation and co-ordination between the stakeholders involved,” said Musiraly Utebayev, the Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Committee in his opening remarks.

Course participants will discuss Kazakhstan’s national AML/CFT legal framework and will study international supervisory structures for the non-financial sector, AML/CFT due diligence obligations and risk-based approaches presented by experts from the Isle of Man and Liechtenstein.

The event was organized in response to a request from the Financial Monitoring Committee and corresponds to the focus of Ireland’s 2012 OSCE Chairmanship on good governance. The course will be repeated on 4 May in Almaty in southern Kazakhstan.