Financial Intelligence Analysis Training for Financial Institutions -27-31/ 07/20 & 24-28/08/20

What:  Regional Training on Effective Financial Intelligence Analysis for Financial institutions

Where: Virtual

When: 27 – 31 July 2020 /   24-28 August 2020

Who: (Webinar 1 & 2) 54 Participants (Financial analysts, analysis managers/supervisors drawn from FIUs of the Greater Horn of Africa and observer countries of eastern & southern Africa)

Context

Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) play a central role in bridging reporting entities and the criminal justice sector. All the FIUs of the GHoA countries are administrative, entrusted to collect suspicious transaction reports (STRs) from designated reporting entities and to undertake financial analysis to decide whether the reports are subject to further investigation by relevant law enforcement agencies (LEAs). Effective financial intelligence analysis and investigation are vital tools to identify and disrupt criminal networks and their financial flows, and in producing evidence and actionable intelligence.

FIUs should have the necessary capabilities (skills, tools and systems) to analyse and disseminate analytical products that guide strategic and operational AML interventions. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 29 sets, among others, that financial analysis and dissemination is a defining role of FIUs. Moreover, FATF’s Immediate Outcome 6, demands competent authorities to use financial intelligence and information to investigate money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF).

To this end, the Project organised these two sessions of online training, with a particular focus on detecting, identifying and disrupting illicit financial flow of trafficking in human beings (THB) and smuggling of migrants (SoM), targeting Financial Intelligence Units of the Greater Horn of Africa.

Objectives

The main objective of the training was to reinforce the financial intelligence analysis capability of FIUs contributing to the enhancement of their AML effectiveness. The training also enabled participants to:

• Better understand the cycle of intelligence management and describe the main functions, process and techniques applied in each step
• Appreciate and exercise strategic and operational/tactical intelligence analysis techniques as applied to financial analysis
• Understand and exercise the skills and techniques of assessing the risk of STRs in general and the money laundering risks of financial flows of THB/SoM
• Understand basic concepts of THB/SoM and characteristics of the criminal networks, operations and financial flows

Feedback/ Review

Feedback from the participants of this training was positive, with a majority of the participants saying the training was timely, relevant and important in their line of duty.