UNODC strengthens the capacity of banks and supervisory authorities in countering the financing of terrorism in Kazakhstan

7-9 December, 2020 in Almaty UNODC’s Global Programme against Money Laundering (GPML) jointly with UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia, the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market and the Committee on Financial Monitoring of the Ministry of Finance delivered a training course on “Strengthening the capacity of financial organizations and supervisory authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan to counter the financing of terrorism“. The course was held in hybrid mode with participation of bank representatives in both online and offline mode. Due to COVID-19 global spread of pandemic the training was held in line with the WHO guidelines and national authorities’ sanitary regulations as physical distancing, face masks and hands sanitizing hygiene.

UN Security Council in 2019 adopted Resolution 2462 as a response to strengthening the growing terrorist threat and the development of various methods of financing terrorism. In accordance with the provisions of the Resolution, it was recommended that the competent national authorities continue to establish effective partnerships with the private sector, including financial institutions, in order to identify trends, sources and methods of financing terrorism.

In this regard, UNODC in cooperation with national and international experts developed the first national training course aimed at the strengthening the capacity of the banks in Kazakhstan on countering financing of terrorism.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Aliaksandr Vadziany, UNODC Advisor on Anti-Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), noted that the course is aimed at improving the effectiveness of the national system on countering the financing of terrorism and increasing the level of interaction between banks and competent authorities.

The training course contains numerous practical exercises for private sector which generated great interest among the participants. 44 representatives of 28 banks participated in the course. The development of the materials and the training course were supported by the representatives of supervisory authorities as the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, the Committee on Financial Monitoring of the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

According to Ms. Ardak Mukasheva, the Chief Compliance Controller of JSC Alfa-Bank, it is the first time, practical training on countering the financing of terrorism was organized for banks. Serious attention is paid to this issue at the level of the bank's management and the compliance service. In this regard, the lessons learned will be useful for improving mechanisms for information exchange and prevention of terrorist financing.

The training materials and the course were organized with financial support of Norway and Russian Federation.

 

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Эта статья на русском.

Shakhnoza Zafari,

Communication and External Relations Officer

UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (Tashkent)

Mobile: +998935547895

E-mail: shakhnoza.zafari[at]un.org