Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

A three-day international seminar on anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism, with a particular focus on international sanctions kicked off in Almaty, Kazakhstan on November 5.

The event, organized by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) , is attended by about 50 local bankers and representatives from state banks, private banks and microcredit deposit organizations.

During the workshop, the EBRD will deliver a training program that combines presentations from the Kazakh National Bank, the Committee on Financial Monitoring (the Kazakh financial intelligence unit) and international experts. The seminar also includes discussion panels and "train the trainer" sessions, which deal with key aspects of activities that fall under the definition of "financial crime".

The main objective of the seminar is to raise awareness on the risks of financing terrorism and being involved in money laundering. The event aims to assist local bankers in not only establishing and upgrading their organizations' AML policies and procedures, but also in putting them into practice.

Janet Heckman, the EBRD's Director for Kazakhstan said this seminar will help Kazakh banks ensure compliance with those policies.

The workshop will not only address current AML and CFT challenges, but will also focus on international sanctions provisions.

Since 2002 the EBRD has organized AML trainings in over 20 countries attended by around 800 bankers from approximately 500 banks and financial institutions.

Since the beginning of its operations in Kazakhstan, the EBRD has invested close to $6.5 billion in the country's economy with more than half of the bank's projects supporting the private sector.