Events in 2020
Participants at the Mutual Evaluation Training outside the training venue, 31 January 2020
January 2020
The programme team convened and facilitated a five-day training workshop on the mutual evaluation of AML/CFT measures. A team of trainers from the ESAAMLG Secretariat delivered training to 45 regulatory and law enforcement practitioners drawn from the FIC, the National Bank of Ethiopia, the federal AG’s Office and the police commission. The experts were acquainted with knowledge about FATF 40 Recommendations and the 11 outcome indicators by which the effectiveness of AML/CFT measures is evaluated. The objective was to raise their awareness of the current FATF evaluation methodology, and to enhance their skills to evaluate peer AML/CFT regimes. It also alerted trainees to deficiencies within Ethiopia’s AML/CFT measures. The training produced a pool of potential evaluators that can be called upon at short notice in the future.
July 2020
Together with the EFIC, the programme developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to guide AML/CFT compliance supervision. The FIC will circulate the SOPs to the various supervisory authorities during 2020.
August 2020
A curriculum and training manual for training asset recovery practitioners was developed for the Asset Recovery Directorate in the Office of the Attorney General.
October – November 2020
The Tana team is working with the Asset Recovery Directorate to further develop its capacity, and that of other agencies and institutions, to recover proceeds of crime and corruption, wherever they may be concealed. To this end, the team has developed a manual to guide practitioners on the law and practice of asset recovery. In October 2020, 16 practitioners embarked on training in asset recovery using the new manual. The training is being conducted partly online, to comply with Ethiopian Government guidelines on the Covid 19 pandemic. The first training course is expected to run until the end of November 2020 and covers strategic issues, establishing asset recovery teams, investigation, asset freezing, seizure, asset confiscation, asset repatriation and international cooperation.
Participants at the workshop on Beneficial Ownership at the training venue, 4 November
Workshop on Beneficial Ownership at the training venue, 2-4 November
November 2020
In November the team provided several different trainings.
Handover of the Framework to enhance transparency of the Beneficial Ownership and control of legal entities
A framework to be used in the disclosure and capture of data on the Beneficial Ownership of legal entities and arrangements was submitted to the Ethiopian competent authorities. Training on using the framework to create a searchable database was delivered to relevant officials from 2nd to 4th November 2020. The database is expected to mitigate the abuse of legal entities to commit crime or to conceal dealings with proceeds of crime. It will also assist financial intelligence analysts and financial crime investigators.
Technical skills training to improve the enforcement of AML/CFT measures
A training workshop for investigators, prosecutors and judges was convened in the Harar region from 16th to 18th November 2020. The focus was on improving investigation, prosecution and adjudication skills in financial crime and money laundering cases
Training in Communications Skills
As part of efforts to improve the flow of information on money laundering and illicit money flows, the Tana programme team will convene a workshop for media practitioners in the public and private sector. The workshop, to be held from 14th to 15th December 2020, will highlight the critical skills required for effective communication with the public on these inter-linked issues through the media.
Asset Recovery Training
The Asset Recovery distance training was delivered online from October 1, 2020 – November 30, 2020. The main objective of the training was to acquaint the participants as a main actor on asset recovery with knowledge and concepts of asset investigation and recovery, in so far as they are regulated bylaw and facilitated by best practices. The participants were from the Asset Recovery Directorate of the AG’s Office, the FIC and from the Crime Investigation Bureau of the Federal Police Commission.
In order to conduct the training, a practitioners manual on Asset Investigation and Recovery was prepared by a group of experts on the subject.
The training was delivered through distance learning. Participants were given time to read the manual in general. After the general reading, trainees were required to consider and respond to address assessment questions. They each had one week to read each chapter and one week to respond to each set of assessment questions. Following their assessment response, the trainers provided substantial feedback to each of the trainees.
The successful trainees will be given a two-day refreshment face to face training in the next few months, and a certificate of accomplishment at the end of the training.
15 trainees set out on the course, three of whom did not fulfill the minimum requirement to finish the course. As a result, the three trainees failed to respond to 100 percent of the response papers. The other twelve have successfully accomplished the training.
Go to Events in 2019
What we are currently working on
Enhancing transparency of the Beneficial Ownership and control of legal entities
The Tana team is assisting the Ethiopian authorities to develop a framework to be used in the disclosure and capture of data on the Beneficial Ownership of legal entities. Beneficial Ownership concerns the natural persons who ultimately own or control a legal entity or arrangement,such as a company, a trust, a foundation, etc (OECD, 2019). The aim of this work is to deter the abuse of legal entities to commit crime or to conceal dealings with proceeds of crime. It is also intended to assist financial intelligence analysts and financial crime investigators.
Supporting financial crime investigation and prosecution
The Tana team has developed a manual to guide Ethiopian anti-money laundering and other practitioners in the investigation of financial crimes. The manual complements the work on tracking criminal activities and criminal assets. It will be used in several regional training workshops for prosecutors that the project has scheduled for November 2020
Supporting the 2nd National Risk Assessment
The Tana team is providing technical support to the 2nd National Risk Assessment, being conducted by 17 government departments and agencies, under the management and coordination of the Ministry of Peace. The 2nd NRA was launched on 14thOctober 2020 in Addis Ababa.
Reviewing and updating of the AML/CFT legislation
The Tana team is supporting the review and updating of the current Ethiopian AML/CFT law in order to ensure that it is fully aligned with the FATF Recommendations and to enhance its effectiveness. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international body mandated to monitor and assist countries to increase the effectiveness of the international and national arrangements to counter money laundering and other forms of financial crime. It regularly reviews countries’ anti-money laundering laws and institutions and issues recommendations for improvements. Ethiopia has made progress against the FATF recommendations over recent years. This work is expected to run through the remainder of 2020.
Improving compliance supervision
The Tana team has assisted the FIC to develop standard operating procedures for Ethiopian compliance supervision authorities. It is developing guidelines to assist non-financial businesses and professions to comply with their AML/CFT obligations.
Improving public awareness of money laundering and terrorist financing
With the knowledge that the public has an important role in curbing money laundering and terrorist financing, the Tana team is working to improve the sharing of information on money laundering and terrorist financing between law enforcement and regulatory authorities and the public.
On-going and forthcoming support
The programme is helping the authorities to strengthen the transparency and disclosure of asset ownership (so-called beneficial ownership) as a means of pre-empting money laundering and/or financing of terrorism and to facilitate the investigation of economic crime and recovery of proceeds of crime.
The programme has been invited to contribute to the review and revision of Ethiopia’s AML legislation (Proclamation 780/2013) under the leadership of the EFIC. This will help to render it compliant with FATF’s Recommendations. The programme will support this process through three of its core team members.
The programme is supporting the public outreach activities of Ethiopia’s AML/CFT/IFF authorities through providing knowledge management and information dissemination expertise.
The programme is working with the EFIC to produce a secure, updated and searchable database to house data on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities in Ethiopia. The database is expected to assist reporting institutions to comply with their AML/CFT due diligence obligations.
Capacity support will be given to the Directorate on Asset Recovery Training, in the AG’s Office. It will be in the form of advice on strategic planning, training and mentorship. Some of the capacity support will be delivered online.
Capacity support in compliance supervision will be provided to regulatory authorities (supervisory bodies) through the development of standard operating procedures and compliance guidelines. The supervisory bodies will be trained to use the guidelines.