The benefits of having accredited Financial Investigators would be reflected by increased efficiency in investigations. This would also entail decreased frequency and thus costs of engaging outsourced experts, such as forensic accountants, experienced auditors, accountants, and investigators of legal and financial documents, that Serbian authorities would otherwise have to hire in investigations of fraud, money laundering or asset recovery cases. Bearing in mind the long-term benefits of having such experts in the Serbian police, their current needs and looking at sustainability of previous efforts invested in the area of suppressing financial crime, the Mission planned to support a number of selected investigators in completing the “Accredited Financial Investigator Course” through the Extra Budgetary Project “Enhancing Capacities of the Serbian Police to Fight Corruption” throughout 2013-2014. Between September and November, the Mission delivered a “Forensic Accounting Training” course in Belgrade which lasted for three months with three days in class per month and homework exercises in between. Officials from the MoI’s Financial Investigation Unit, the Public Procurement Office, the State Audit Institution, the Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office, the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office, the Anti-corruption Agency, and the Tax Police were given a case study in which they were tasked with uncovering the ownership of private companies by a public official using open source public documents. The training encouraged cross-institutional co-operation in financial investigations and taught the participants how to use public documents to investigate alleged corruption. As markets evolve it becomes more difficult to protect investors against financial crime. Authorities tasked with regulating financial markets have an obligation to deter, detect, investigate and prosecute those who set out to damage financial markets, the investor community and the wider economic interest of a country. In order to protect the integrity of the markets, and make them attractive to domestic and international investors, it is essential that all authorities tasked with regulating the financial markets understand the risks these markets face and have the right tools to enable them to deal effectively with these threats. Communication and co-operation between the relevant authorities is crucial. Bearing all this in mind, the Serbian MoI expressed the need for advanced training for Serbian law enforcement officials on detecting, investigating and prosecuting fraud and corruption in the Serbian Stock Market. The objectives of the training, which took place from 12-14 June, were to enhance the Serbian law enforcement and regulators’ ability to detect crime occurring through the misuse of the stock market; to improve their ability to investigate illegal activities taking place in capital markets; to strengthen communication among police and prosecutors, to enhance new prosecution-led investigations; as well as to enhance successful prosecutions of criminal activity occurring in the Serbian stock market. The three-day training was delivered by two experts - one from the UK and one from the USA, to a total of 25 experienced anti-corruption and financial crime investigators, prosecutors, as well as to several members of the Securities Commission of the Republic of Serbia, the Belgrade Stock Exchange and Central Securities. This activity was organized in co-operation with the US ICITAP in Belgrade. In assisting the Serbian Ministry of Interior to establish links with international financial investigation bodies and networks and thus contribute to developing mechanisms for the efficient fight against corruption, the Mission organized a two-day study visit on 3-4 July for six representatives of the MoI’s Department for the Suppression of Organized Financial Crime and the Financial Investigation Unit to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in Brussels. Within the context of European integration, strengthening direct contacts with OLAF is particularly important with regard to combating and preventing fraud, corruption and any other illegal financial activities. The focus of the study visit was to learn more about the OLAF procedures, their ways of operation and the legal framework. In view of the new CPC of Serbia, and the new instrument it stipulates (i.e. the prosecutor-led investigations), the Ministry’s delegation was also provided with the opportunity to examine elements of judicial and police co-operation at the European level. 88