Experts hold Working Group on Beneficial Ownership as Competent Authorities

Partnering with the Financial Intelligence Unit of Latvia (FIU Latvia), the EU Global Facility on AML/CFT is organising a three-day workshop in Riga, under the title “Beneficial Ownership Registers as Competent Authorities”. This marks the third in the series of experts meetings, which already convened in Malta and Belgium through 2022 and 2023.

Head of FIU Latvia Toms Platacis says: “FIU Latvia is delighted to host this three-day workshop. Strong international cooperation is at the heart of our efforts to create a more secure and transparent global financial environment. As Beneficial Ownership Registers worldwide evolve into competent authorities and we lie in a world that is more hectic than ever before - in times when effective sanctions implementation is more crucial than ever before, and being effective in the second is not possible without being effective in the first, I believe this workshop in Riga will represent our significant efforts in these fields”.

Bringing together 23 experts from 18 countries, the workshop aims to discuss the various key aspects and building blocks that jurisdiction should focus on when setting-up BO Registers. From the technological solutions used for interconnecting databases and enabling BO registration, to the ways verification, supervision and enforcement can be ensured through data analysis, the discussions will cover a wide range of subjects.

“The goal of this activity is to develop tangible proposals and best practice that can be made available to stakeholders and jurisdictions who are seeking to build or enhance national beneficial ownership capabilities,” explained EU Global Facility Key Expert on BO Alexandre Taymans.

About the EU GF-AML/CFT: Established in 2017 by the European Commission, the EU GF-AML/CFT aims to support partner countries in their efforts to prevent money laundering and cut off access to funding for individual terrorists and terrorist organisations. Managed by the Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), the project is implemented by Expertise France, in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas (NI-CO).