OSCE supported seminar in Bishkek fosters international co-operation in countering financing of terrorism

Some 64 representatives of financial investigation units and law enforcement agencies from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as experts from international organizations attended a seminar on “Current Issues in Countering the Financing of Terrorism” held in Bishkek on 11 November.

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek organized the seminar in co-operation with the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG), the Commonwealth of Independent States Anti-Terrorism Centre, and the International Training and Methodology Centre for Financial Monitoring.

The participants discussed modern methods of collecting and moving money and instruments for terrorist financing purposes. In addition, the experience of countries in identifying persons moving from areas of heightened terrorist activity involved in terrorist financing was presented, and the terrorist financing risks associated with the movement of refugees from Afghanistan was examined.

Notably, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards for dealing with Non-profit Organizations, the experience of EAG member states and other countries in the NPO sector, common shortcomings in implementing the FATF standards and best practices, including conducting a sectoral FATF risk assessment for NPOs were presented and discussed as well.  

The seminar aimed to foster regional co-operation in addressing such a serious challenge to security and exploring potential terrorist financing risks through discussions and exchange of good practices related to countering terrorist financing.