Eurasian Group (EAG)

• The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and financing of terrorism is a FATF-style regional body.
• The EAG was established in 2004 and is currently an associate member of the FATF.
• The EAG was created for the countries of the Eurasian region not included in the existing FATF-style regional groups and is intended to play an important role in reducing the threat of international terrorism and ensure the transparency, reliability and security of the financial systems of states and their further integration into the international infrastructure for combating money laundering and terrorism financing (AML/CFT).
• The creation of the group coincided with the launch of efforts to create conditions for the formation and development of effective anti-money-laundering systems in the region.
• The founding conference was held in Moscow on October 6, 2004, and was attended by six founding countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. In 2005 and 2010 the group was expanded to include Uzbekistan (2005), Turkmenistan (2010) and India (2010) which previously had observer status.
• Hence presently there are 9 member states. (5Central Asian countries, India, Russia, China, Belarus)
• The Agreement on the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism was signed in Moscow in June 2011, granting the EAG the status of a regional intergovernmental organization.
• Today the EAG brings together nine countries in the region (Belarus, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). Observer status has been granted to 15 countries and 23 international organizations.
• The primary goal of the EAG is to ensure effective interaction and cooperation at the regional level and integration of EAG member-states into the international system of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism in accordance with the Recommendations of the FATF and the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism standards of other international organizations, to which EAG member-states are a party.

The main tasks of the EAG:

• assisting member-states in implementing the 40 FATF anti-money laundering Recommendations and the 9 Special FATF Recommendations on combating terrorist financing (FATF 40 9 Recommendations);

• developing and conducting joint activities aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing;

• implementing a program of mutual evaluations of member-states based on the FATF 40 9 Recommendations, including assessment of the effectiveness of legislative and other measures adopted in the sphere of AML/CFT efforts;

• coordinating international cooperation and technical assistance programs with specialized international organizations, bodies, and interested states;

• analyzing money laundering and terrorist financing trends (typologies) and exchanging best practices for combating such crimes taking into account regional specifics.