Investigating and regulating virtual assets focus of two workshops held in Armenia

From 21 to 24 January, the OSCE conducted two workshops in Yerevan focused on addressing the complexities of virtual assets in today’s financial landscape. The first workshop aimed at enhancing capacities of relevant practitioners in investigating crypto-related financial crimes, while the second workshop focused on regulating virtual assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers.

The workshops brought together practitioners from a wide range of government institutions in Armenia, including the Central Bank, Ministry of Internal Affairs, General Prosecutor’s Office, Financial Monitoring Center and others, providing an opportunity to network, exchange knowledge and understand the various roles and challenges of each institution with regards to virtual assets and the related threats. Both workshops included real-world case studies and referred to international good practices and standards in investigations, as well as regulatory frameworks.

“Digital innovations such as virtual assets provide opportunities, but also require us to stay ahead of emerging threats,” said one of the participants from the Financial Monitoring Center. “This training provided us with the opportunity to explore practices from other countries and exchange knowledge so we are better positioned to address regulatory challenges and to investigate cases involving virtual assets,” she added.

The two workshops were organized within the framework of the extra-budgetary project “Innovative Policy Solutions to Mitigate Money-Laundering Risks of Virtual Assets”, implemented by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. The project is financially supported by Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States.