New approaches to combating money laundering: A parallel session of the international conference was held at the Academy.

The Law enforcement academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan has launched its international scientific and practical conference entitled “Ensuring the rule of law in the face of modern challenges: Problems and solutions,” organised in celebration of the 3rd anniversary of its establishment.

            The conference is being held in the format of a plenary session and parallel sessions addressing pressing issues in the law enforcement sphere.

More than 120 leading experts from over 30 countries are participating in the conference, including representatives of the United Nations, the OSCE, the European Union, the International Organization for Migration, UNESCO, the International Association of Prosecutors, and other organisations.

The conference opened with a parallel session titled “Countering money laundering and the financing of terrorism: Transformation of approaches in the digital era”.

The session was held in a hybrid format and brought together experts from Uzbekistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Germany, as well as representatives of leading international organisations.

Alexander Vodyanoy, Regional adviser of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), delivered a presentation on the potential applications of artificial intelligence in combating money laundering. Using the Turkish MASAK model as an example, issues of digital transformation in the fight against financial crime were examined.

Nikolai Falko, a representative of Binance, provided a detailed overview of mechanisms for cooperation with law enforcement agencies in tracing and recovering crypto-assets. Boriykhon Malikov, a representative of the department for combating economic crimes under the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan, presented the implementation of the “Risk assessment centre” system within the agency.

Michael Bull, an expert from the “Egmont” training centre (ECOFEL), and Steven Lettic, a representative of the United States Department of Justice (ICITAP), emphasised the importance of training qualified personnel and expanding international cooperation.

The discussions also addressed the use of beneficial ownership registers, the application of biometric technologies in border control (API/PNR), as well as updated FATF recommendations on the identification, seizure, and recovery of assets.

As a result of the session, participants developed a number of practical proposals aimed at further strengthening the national system for combating financial crimes and enhancing international cooperation.