Financial Crime World

Georgia’s Insurance Sector and Financial Intelligence Unit Team Up to Combat Financial Crimes

The Financial Monitoring Service (FMS), also known as the Georgian Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia recently collaborated to conduct a two-day training session for the insurance sector on combating money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/FT). This initiative is part of a wider collaboration between the two entities to ensure that Georgia’s private sector adheres effectively to ML/FT compliance requirements.

Training for the Insurance Sector

Attendees of this training, exclusive to the insurance sector, explored essential AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism) topics, focusing on:

  1. Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)
  2. Beneficial ownership identification and verification
  3. Sector-specific pitfalls

The workshop drew from the following sources:

  1. National Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Risk Assessment of Georgia (2019)
  2. MONEYVAL 5th Round mutual evaluation report

Insights and Best Practices

FMS officials shared insights and regulatory guidelines gained from the National Risk Assessment and discussed the applicability of international AML/CFT standards in areas such as Georgia’s expanding health insurance sector. Participants:

  1. Examined best practices locally and from around the world
  2. Considered sector-specific risk approaches

Challenges and Discussions

The session addressed challenges specific to the implementation of customer due diligence procedures, identification of beneficial owners, and cooperation between reporting entities, supervisors, and the Financial Monitoring Service.

Empowering Georgian Authorities

This endeavor, with the aim of empowering Georgian authorities with the skills and resources needed to meet MONEYVAL recommendations, saw attendees engage in insightful discussions on how the insurance sector can enhance its ability to mitigate major ML/FT risks. The activity falls under the auspices of the EU-funded Council of Europe project, “Enhancing the Systems of Prevention and Combating Corruption, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Georgia,” running from 2019 to 2022.