Financial Crime World

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Georgian Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regime Under Scrutiny

A team of experts from the Legislative Experts Group (LEG) has conducted a comprehensive assessment of Georgia’s anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regime, concluding that while significant progress has been made since the last assessment in 2007, there are still major weaknesses that need to be addressed.

Key Findings

The report highlights several areas where Georgia needs to improve its AML/CFT framework, including:

  • Effectiveness of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU): While Georgia has a comprehensive legal framework in place criminalizing both money laundering and terrorist financing as autonomous offenses, there are still major loopholes in terms of transparency of legal entities, domestic cooperation, measures to prevent terrorism financing, and preventive measures for designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs).
  • AML/CFT Supervision: Law enforcement authorities need to improve their implementation of AML/CFT provisions, including increasing their powers to access information held by lawyers and other financial institutions.
  • International Cooperation: Georgia needs to improve its international cooperation and coordination between law enforcement agencies.

Recommendations

The report recommends that Georgia take steps to address these weaknesses, including:

  • Strengthening the FIU’s capacity: Strengthening the FIU’s capacity to analyze suspicious transaction reports and improve the quality of reporting.
  • Improving International Cooperation: Improving international cooperation and coordination between law enforcement agencies.
  • Enhancing Domestic Cooperation: Enhancing domestic cooperation and coordination between government agencies and private sector entities.
  • Increasing Transparency and Accountability: Increasing transparency and accountability in the financial system.

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