The workshop was arranged in cooperation with the Uzbek General Prosecutor’s Office, OSCE, ADB and EAG. The objective of the Workshop is to build capacity of the Uzbek FIU and to enhance the collaboration between the FIU and the competent law enforcement/prosecutorial authorities.

The participants included the staff from the FIU, other relevant departments of the General Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of the Interior, National Security Service, Central Bank, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice and Customs.

In May 2009 the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted the amendments on the Law on Countermeasures against Laundering of the Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT Law) and introduced changes to several other laws/regulations relevant for AML/CFT.

With the adoption of this legislation the Uzbek Financial Intelligence Unit, which is under the General Public Prosecutor’s Office portfolio, received some additional powers and tasks in preventing and detecting money laundering and terrorist financing. On the other hand, the new AML/CFT Law now provides for a less complicated reporting system, based on the reporting of suspicious transactions/activities, which will significantly change the way of conducting the FIU business in the future.

During the workshop the international experts provided exhaustive description of international standards and best practices related to all aspects of the FIU work including, inter alia, topics on FIU governance and operational independence and the FIU power to suspend suspicious transactions. Furthermore, the experts presented several real money laundering cases and provide practical advice on the application of AML/CFT legislation and identification of suspicious transactions related to money laundering.

“Domestic Interagency Collaboration” was another topic discussed by the workshop participants. International AML/CFT experts presented different areas and forms of cooperation between the FIU and the competent law enforcement authorities, as well as provided details regarding the content of FIU reports to the law enforcement authorities.