Azerbaijan, Baku, March 12 /Trend I.Khalilova/
Thirty eighth Plenary Session of the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism of the Council of Europe (MONEYVAL) has approved the report of the Azerbaijani government on the status of work conducted in the country in the direction of combating money laundering and legalization of other property from crime and terrorist financing. It is stated in the report of the State Securities Committee (SSC) of Azerbaijan, released on Monday.
MONEYVAL meeting was held on March 5-9 in Strasbourg (France). Azerbaijan delegation headed by chairman of the SSC Rufat Aslanli participated at the event.
"The status of implementation by Azerbaijan of recommendations, reflected in the "horizontal review" of MONEYVAL, prepared in 2010 based on reports from the third stage of the joint assessment was discussed at the meeting along with other issues" the report says. "During the meeting, the Azerbaijani delegation presented a report on work implemented."
The reports of countries which have deficiencies in implementation of the recommendations of the Financial Action Organization for Cooperation and Development (FATF) under the "horizontal view" and "special monitoring regime," reports on a joint evaluation of several MONEYVAL Member States were discussed at the meeting.
Azerbaijan is represented in the MONEYVAL since 2002, after being a full member of the Council of Europe in January 2001.
MONEYVAL started holding the fourth round of assessments of the national systems of its member countries in 2010. Slovenia and Hungary have already completed these procedures. Azerbaijan's assessment is included in MONEYVAL's working plan for 2013.
This assessment covers the effectiveness of the system and the practical application of legislation in the sphere of combating money laundering and financing terrorism.
Latvia's assessment, in which Azerbaijan first acted as an the appraiser of the legal and institutional aspects of combating money laundering and financing terrorism, was held in May 2011.
The Financial Monitoring Service was established in accordance with President Ilham Aliyev's decree dated Feb. 23, 2009. The monitoring will cover credit institutions, insurance and reinsurance organizations, the professional securities market, the leasing services of credit institutions, money transfers through post offices and other organizations, pawn shops, investment funds, transactions with precious metals and stones and purchase products, non-governmental and religious organizations, lotteries, and providing real estate services.