Among more than 20 speakers were internationally recognised experts and heads of financial intelligence units, along with executives and specialists from several key Estonian authorities. The conference was opened by the Minister of Finance of Estonia Jürgen Ligi.
“We undertook the organisation of such a large-scale conference based on our statutory training obligation, but above all driven by the desire to develop Estonia’s anti-money-laundering system in line with modern best practices,” said the Head of the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit, Matis Mäeker. “We must work together to ensure the state’s effectiveness. On one hand, we need to further strengthen inter-agency and cross-border cooperation. On the other hand, we must cultivate the next generation of experts to guarantee continuity and sustainability, so the system’s success does not depend on just a handful of people,” Mäeker added.
Nicola Muccioli, Chair of MONEYVAL, emphasised in his opening remarks the central role of financial intelligence units. He explained that if FIUs are not autonomous and independent, or if their analytical capacity is limited, they cannot turn data into results. He pointed to, for example, the ability to obtain bank account statements and the broadest possible access to other financial intelligence sources. “This is why MONEYVAL focuses on effectiveness, meaning the use of financial intelligence to prevent crime,” Muccioli said.
The topics discussed on 3 November included, among other things, non-conviction-based confiscation and money-laundering investigations. On 4 November, discussions focused on fighting fraud, trends in terrorist financing, compliance culture, and case studies related to cryptocurrencies, sanctions, and gambling.
Closed parallel training sessions also took place from 3–5 November. The training began with the submission of a report (based on a sample case prepared by the FIU) with private-sector participation, continued with the FIU’s analysis, enrichment and transmission of the report to investigative authorities, and concluded with the investigative authorities presenting a mock indictment.
The programme and speaker introductions are available on the conference website.
The conference livestream was broadcast via the Financial Intelligence Unit’s LinkedIn and Facebook channels.
