On the 5^th and 6^th of October, 2022, the Annual International Anti-Money Laundering Conference took place. Many different stakeholders participated, including representatives of the State Police, the Prosecutor’s Office, courts and other law enforcement agencies. The first day of the conference was moderated by Māris Vainovskis (Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns) who also chairs the Investment Protection work group of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia.

The Annual International Anti-Money Laundering Conference brings together practitioners and experts in the field of criminal justice to better understand new developments, trends, methodologies, approaches and challenges in preventing and combating money laundering. This year’s program focused on the strengthening cooperation between the private and public sectors to also support the efforts of allies and partners to combat money laundering proactively.

During Day 1 of the conference, Māris Vainovskis also addressed the participants with a lecture regarding “Latvia’s increased capacity to fight money laundering as one of the cornerstones for boosting investor confidence, the financial sector, and the stability of the business environment”. The presentation focused on FICIL recommendations, specialisation of courts, cooperation among public and private sector representatives, as well as sanctions compliance.

Day 1 of the conference ended with a roundtable discussion “A High Price to Pay: Enhancing the Effectiveness of International Sanctions”. The discussion covered the overview of the international sanctions regime, focused especially on sanctions arising from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Participants explained the sanctions framework, how they are effectuated at the national level, and how allies can work cooperatively to enforce sanctions, export restriction, and economic countermeasures against sanctioned officials, elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct.

The discussion featured:

1. Juris Juriss, Chief Prosecutor of the Coordination Division for Combating Money Laundering of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Latvia
2. Kaspars Zgirskis, Prosecutor of the Department of Specially Authorized Prosecutors of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Latvia
3. Edgars Pastars, representative of the Finance Latvia Association
4. Maris Vainovskis, representative of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia
5. Kristaps Markovskis, AML and Sanctions Compliance Department Director, Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia
6. Paulis Iļjenkovs, Head of Strategic Analysis Division of Financial Intelligence Unit of Latvia
7. Agnese Rudzite, State Revenue Service, Director of the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering
8. Representative of the State Security Service, Latvia

 

FICIL recommendations covering investment protection challenges, as well as recommendations covering combating financial crimes can be found here.