Some forty-five students from the Turkmen State Institute of Finance attended an OSCE-organized training course on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) that took place in a hybrid format from 18 to 22 September 2023.

The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized the five-day course to raise the awareness of students about AML/CFT international standards and share best practices of the OSCE participating States in preventing and countering this financial crime.

Beijing (China), 6 September 2023 - Ministers and senior officials from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), gathered in Beijing for the 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Mekong Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Control (the Mekong MOU).

This year’s Ministerial Meeting considered how drug production, trafficking and use have changed in the Mekong region over the past 30 years, with the vast expansion of synthetic drug supply and intensified organized crime activity top of the agendas.

It has been more than a year since Nepal’s central bank, the Nepal Rastra Bank, initiated amendments to the law to enable the issuance of the digital version of the Nepalese rupee. What is the status of its CBDC?

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the South Asian nation’s central bank, revealed in August 2022 its intentions to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Concurrently, the NRB appealed to the nation’s legislators to amend the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, which traditionally governs the issuance of tangible currency, to incorporate provisions for digital currency issuance. 

The Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) - New York

On 18 September 2023, the GCTF 22nd Coordinating Committee convened in New York, under the leadership of Co-Chairs Egypt and the European Union.

A first in the history of the Forum, the GCTF Members invited Kenya and Kuwait to join the Forum as new members. This membership expansion brings greater regional representation, inclusivity, focus on Africa and frontline states – foundational pillars of the Co-Chairs’ Strategic Priorities.                                   

Issyk-Kul, 3-4 September_The Eurasian Group (EAG) on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) convened its third annual forum in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan.

From September 18-21, the ECOFEL will host the “AML-CFT workshops for designated competent authorities in the West and Central Africa Region”.

This in-person event will be co-hosted with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) of Ghana, the GIABA Secretariat, and the GABAC Secretariat.  

UAE – A delegation from the Executive Office for control and non-proliferation (EOCN) headed by His Excellency Talal Al-Tunaiji, director of the office, has participated in the twenty-first meeting of the national committees of the Asian member states of the organization for the Prohibition of chemical weapons (OPCW), which was held in Siem Reap/ Cambodia (29- 31) August.

1 September 2023 (New York, USA) – The sixth negotiating session of the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) to elaborate the United Nations (UN) cybercrime convention took place at the UN in New York from 21 August to 1 September. This session marked in-depth negotiations on the draft convention, with the aim to adopt a focused criminal justice instrument that advances international cooperation to fight cybercrime, while respecting human rights. 

On August 30th and 31st, 2023, the Egmont Centre of FIU Excellence and Leadership (ECOFEL) hosted a virtual workshop on “Improving SAR/STR Quality” for the West and Central Africa Region.

During the two-day event, AML/CFT expert Mariano Federici shared presentations, answered questions, and discussed the quality of STRs in the region.

Europol’s inaugural threat assessment on financial and economic crimes leverages operational insights and strategic intelligence contributed by EU Member States and Europol’s partners

The world is getting smaller, as trade, communication and infrastructure on a global scale brings us closer together. However, there is another, darker, side to the coin: our interconnected world is being abused by criminals who have created an underground economy to sustain their illegal operations.