Financial Crime World

Combating Money Laundering and Illicit Financial Flows in the Baltic States

Introduction

The Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania have been working together to strengthen their measures against money laundering and illicit financial flows. The following article outlines a set of key measures aimed at addressing vulnerabilities identified in previous investigations.

Measures to Combat Money Laundering

1. Transparency and Statistics

  • Regular publication of accurate statistics: Banks will be required to regularly publish information about their relationships with Trust or Company Service Providers (TCSPs) and Electronic Money Institutions/ Payment Institutions (EMIs/PIs).
  • Strengthening monitoring and transparency: Licensing requirements for TCSPs will be developed, a public register of all TCSPs under the supervision of the State Revenue Service will be set up, and a list of disqualified TCSP owners and directors will be published.

2. Corporate Services Monitoring

  • Interoperability among corporate registries: Common open data standards will be adopted to ensure interoperability among corporate registries in the three countries.
  • Common tools for suspicious activity detection: Tools will be developed to detect suspicious activities, and technical solutions will be implemented for cross-border verification of beneficial ownership information.

3. Financial Intelligence Cooperation

  • Upscaling financial intelligence cooperation: A joint risk assessment or thematic study focused on current money laundering threats will be undertaken.
  • Regional Expert Groups: Regional Expert Groups will be established to share intelligence with private EMIs/PIs operating in the three countries.
  • Mandatory targeted transaction and record-keeping requirements: Mandatory targeted transaction and record-keeping requirements may be considered for high-risk customers.

Addressing Vulnerabilities

The measures outlined above aim to address vulnerabilities identified in previous investigations into money laundering schemes, such as the Russian Laundromat, Azerbaijani Laundromat, Troika Laundromat, and others.