Industry experts will gather at the FIU Latvia organized international conference to discuss effective practices in combating financial crimes

As the field of financial crime evolves through innovation and becomes more complex, the conference aims to bring together representatives of the Council of Europe Member States, the Secretariat of MONEYVAL, law enforcement agencies, legal professionals, industry leaders, and experts to share ideas and best practices on managing and mitigating existing and future financial crime risks.

Arvils Ašeradens, Minister for Finance of Latvia, and Elżbieta Frankow-Jaśkiewicz, Chair of MONEYVAL will participate in the opening of the conference, while T. Raja Kumar, President of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), will honor the participants with his presence remotely. The panel discussions of the conference will be opened by Toms Platacis, the Head of the FIU Latvia, who will focus on the future of Anti-money laundering (AML) prevention system in his presentation.

To encourage member states’ discussions on the effectiveness of enforcement of international sanctions, Latvian and foreign experts at the conference will discuss about the growing role of sanctions, challenges, and best practices in their enforcement, as well as combating sanctions evasion.

Along with the growing relevance of virtual assets, and their potential use in AML and combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), the challenges and opportunities associated with virtual assets will be discussed at the conference. Participants will also discuss the most effective strategies for managing risks, improving transparency, and promoting responsible innovation in the virtual world.

Recognizing the growing impact of technology and digitization, the conference will also focus on digital transformation in the field of AML/CFT. In the panel discussions, participants will explore innovations, technological advances, and related challenges, as well as share opinions and experiences with good practices on the use of digitalization in the fight against AML/CFT, and strengthening resilience against financial crimes.

Participants will also delve into how to promote national policies and international actions by highlighting the importance of enhancing legal framework and national capacity, as well as cooperation at all levels. The leading role and work of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) undertaken in this area will be given a particular attention.

By sharing experiences and analyzing topics of asset recovery, sanctions, digital transformation and virtual assets, countries can better identify financial threats in a rapidly changing environment. In addition, such exchange of knowledge allows Member States to increase their capacity to detect financial crimes in global financial system more effectively.

From May 17 to November 15, 2023 Latvia has assumed its second presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. One of the thematic priorities during this presidency is strengthening democracy and the rule of law. Latvia is actively working to create a safer financial ecosystem in Europe. Therefore, it cooperates with MONEYVAL and other industry organizations, promoting discussions and sharing best practices on combating financial crimes, managing, and mitigating existing and future risks.