The workshop entitled Improving Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regime (A holistic approach to mitigate financial crimes), wrapped up in Doha on Wednesday. It was organised by the Public Prosecution in collaboration with the US Departments of Justice and Treasury.

The participants underscored the importance of supporting global efforts to curb money laundering and combat the financing of terrorism. They stressed that boosting co-operation among all regional and global stakeholders is imperative to achieve this objective, especially given the overlapping patterns of crimes associated with these issues. This necessitates the mobilisation of all essential energies and resources to address them.

In the closing session of the workshop, participants representing 16 countries were honoured and received certificates in recognition of their work.

Among them were deputy attorneys general, assistant deputy attorneys general, public prosecutors, judges, and officials from agencies specialized in anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

The last day of the workshop centered on discussing themes related to detecting evasion of penalties and related trials. It underscored the importance of co-operation between the public and private sectors to curb encryption crimes, enhance evidence through financial information, and track criminal cases. Additionally, it highlighted the significance of banking supervision in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as the co-operation between banks and investigators in this regard.

The four-day event featured numerous key sessions and panel discussions, along with working papers that addressed capacity building, shared best practices, and state-of-the-art legal frameworks and technologies for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. Additionally, it included best practices related to banking supervision in combating these issues.

In addition, the papers addressed trade-based money laundering, money laundering through complex financial instruments, and money laundering patterns in the Middle East and North Africa. The workshop focused on vital themes related to Fintech, digital currencies, and the risks associated with designated non-financial businesses and professions.

The event highlighted various types of financial crimes, as well as international cooperation in law enforcement and prosecutions, asset recovery from abroad, and asset confiscation.

The participants discussed topics related to leveraging information as an anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism tool, as well as issues related to money laundering connected to narcotics crime.