3.2
Office of the Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities
Background
In 2014, staff members of the Economic Governance Unit of the Office of the Co-ordinator of
OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) continued to be involved in policerelated activities, addressing good governance, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering.
The Office co-operated closely with relevant thematic units, OSCE field operations and
partner organizations, such as the Council of Europe, the Egmont Group, the Eurasian
Group on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (EAG), the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank.
Financial Investigations and Money Laundering
From March through December, the OCEEA, in partnership with the World Bank, supported
Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing National Risk Assessments (ML/FT
NRA) in Croatia, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The objective
of these projects was to assist national authorities in carrying out their ML/FT NRAs in order
to contribute to effective implementation of the FATF recommendations as well as to improve
their understanding of ML/FT risks and how to mitigate these risks. Participants of workshops
and meetings organized through these projects included Financial Intelligence Units,
regulatory and supervisory agencies, law enforcement agencies, prosecution and judicial
authorities.
Anti-Corruption
On 1-3 October in Vienna, the OCEEA, in co-operation with UNODC and EAG, organized the
Workshop on Cross-Border Co-operation against Corruption and Money Laundering.
Participants included law enforcement, FIU officials and anti-corruption officials from Central
Asia, Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, as well as the OSCE Partner for
Co-operation Afghanistan. The event illustrated good practices in direct international
information exchange between law enforcement authorities as well as domestic and foreign
practices and case studies. It contributed towards enhanced capacities to successfully
initiate, investigate and prosecute cases of both corruption and money laundering in cases
when defendants, evidence and assets are located in multiple countries.
On 16-17 December in Batumi, Georgia, the OCEEA, in co-operation with UNODC and the
OECD Anti-Corruption Network and with the support of the Government of Georgia,
organized the Regional Seminar on Corruption Prevention. The seminar aimed to enhance
the capacity of relevant institutions in the countries of Eastern Europe and South Caucasus
to more effectively conduct verification of asset declarations and to strengthen the “ethics
infrastructure” in the public sector. More than 50 senior and mid-level anti-corruption officials,
including Ministry of Interior officials, from the South Caucasus and Eastern Europe attended
the seminar and engaged in the discussions. Expert speakers from relevant international and
non-governmental organizations and national anti-corruption bodies shared their expertise
and inside knowledge.
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