OSCE supports Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to be taken off FATF non-co-operative countries list
BISHKEK, 25 April 2014 – A two-day OSCE-supported working visit of the representatives of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to monitor the work of Kyrgyzstan in countering money laundering and the financing of terrorism concluded today in Bishkek.
The Financial Action Task Force is an intergovernmental organization that develops international standards on combatting money laundering, financing of terrorism and the proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction.
During the working visit, four international experts from FATF held meetings with the officials from the President’s Office, the Government, the Supreme Court, the State Financial Intelligence Service, the National Bank and the representatives of the private sector.
Special attention was paid to the measures Kyrgyzstan’s authorities are taking to be removed from the FAFT ‘Grey List’ of states deemed to have strategically inadequate systems in place for effective combatting money laundering and terrorist financing. The OSCE has been assisting Kyrgyzstan in increasing the capacity of the country’s authorities to adopt modern investigative and countering methods, and implement legislation that addresses the recommendations of the FATF. An example of such assistance was the opening by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek in March 2013 of a new Training Centre of the State Financial Intelligence Service, and the holding of several training courses for officers from the Service.
“The OSCE is strongly committed to assisting Kyrgyzstan’s Government in strengthening the country’s financial system and implementing FATF’s recommendations,” said Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. “These efforts will ensure the integrity of Kyrgyzstan’s financial system, enhance its security and investment potential and will thus improve the overall economic situation in the country.”