OSCE, UNODC hold workshop in Montenegro on combating money-laundering and terrorist financing
KOLASIN, Montenegro, 8 December 2006 - Developing national capacity-building in the fight against money-laundering and terrorist financing is the focus of a two-day workshop that ends in Kolasin today.
Organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environment Activities and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), it brought together bankers, inspectors, representatives of ministries and judicial bodies.
"Money-laundering is one of the world's fastest growing criminal activities. This is why the OSCE is involved in combating this phenomenon in line with its mandate to fight both money-laundering and the financing of terrorism," said Ambassador Badescu, the Head of the OSCE Mission.
"The workshop will help raise awareness about the threats of money-laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as to identify needs for further improvement in both national legislation and investigative practices."
Participants also discussed international instruments used to combat organized crime, money-laundering and terrorist financing, best practices in the field, the legal and institutional framework required, and ways to develop closer co-operation and co-ordination.
Speakers, including the Montenegrin Finance Minister and the head of the country's Financial Intelligence Unit, underlined the progress already achieved in building an institutional framework to combat money-laundering in line with its international commitments, but said there was need for further improvement, especially with regard to Montenegro's European integration.
Ambassador Thomas Schmitt of Germany, whose government co-funded the event together with the government of Liechtenstein and the OCEEA, said that "Germany attaches high priority to combating money-laundering by helping track and confiscate illegal proceeds of crime". This is being done in line with a strong determination at EU level to address issues related to these threats.
Participants suggested the OSCE organizes a follow-up event in Montenegro next year to share the experience of foreign banks and other financial institutions in handling suspected cases of money-laundering and terrorist financing in co-operation with national authorities and international institutions.
The OSCE, through its Mission to Montenegro and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environment Activities, as well as the UNODC, stand ready to further support Montenegro in its efforts at reinforcing its institutional and legal system aimed at combating the threats of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.