Author Archives: cz10cz1

The possibilities in combating terrorist financing were discussed in Prague

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The Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance CZ supported by the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Finance CZ and the Council of Europe organized a workshop focused on new challenges in combating terrorist financing. Thanks to the financial support of EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014 the representatives of European countries together with experts from relevant European institutions like the European Commission or the MONEYVAL met in past days in Prague. The purpose of this workshop was discussion on upcoming new measures as well as practical experiences and good practises in the CFT area. The question of effective fight against financing terrorism is crucial on both the national and the international level. EU focuses the attention within preparation of the amendment of the new directive also on the extension of cooperation between responsible authorities in all member states. These authorities are mainly financial intelligence units or specialized police units.

As the Head on Financial Analytical Unit stated: “The goals of this workshop are mutually introduce the possibilities of European financial intelligence units, share the best practices and refer to challenges connected with financing terrorism. Last but not least this event should also help to build a personal connections which could be essential during the critical situation as our France colleagues pointed out.”. The agenda of the workshop contained main points from the Action Plan of fight against financing terrorism issued on February 2016 by the European Commission. The representatives of the France financial intelligence unit illustrated the crucial role of fast cooperation between relevant authorities in critical situations. There was also introduced unique model of virtual currencies providers’ registration established in Luxembourg. Important parts of the program were also presentations of representative of the European Commission targeted on supra-national risk assessment and future development of measures regulating the fight against terrorist financing.

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The Programme for the Fight against Corruption exceed expectation

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28. 7. 2016

The fight against corruption as one of the main pillars of the government’s programme is also substance of one programme realized by the Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance under Norway grants 2009-2014. The Programme CZ10 has been successfully realized since September 2014. “This Programme has not just fulfilled the donors’ expectations but in certain areas it has even exceeded them. For instance in the scope and intensity of the cooperation with the Project Partner the Council of Europe,” assessed the Programme the representative of donor institution Mr. Terje Bjørn Englund from the Norwegian Embassy in Prague.

The Programme has been divided into two pre-defined projects. These projects have been focused on strengthening of the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering system in Czech Republic
by development of papers assessing prepared legislative drafts, rising the institutional capacity
in public institutions and also by technical reinforcement of units combating corruption and money laundering.

“Above other realized activities within the Programme I would like to highlight the development
of analysis of whistle-blowers’ centre and the study on transparency of beneficial owners. Both
of these documents have a key role in discussion within preparation of amendments of both relevant laws,” said at the Final Conference the Head of Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance Mr. Libor Kazda. The Czech Republic can benefit from the results of the Programme even
on international level. The Ministry of Justice said that particular activities of the programme together with the wide scope of involved institutions have been already reflected in the latest follow-up reports for the OECD.

Michal Žurovec
Head of the Department for External Relations and Communications, Ministry of Finance

http://www.mfcr.cz/cs/aktualne/tiskove-zpravy/2016/program-boje-proti-korupci-predcil-oceka-25691

Together against corruption

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28.7.2016

“Corruption ultimately affects the entire economy and is one of the causes of demoralization of society. It is a problem for many public and private institutions, and hence we need to combat it decisively and in a coordinated manner.”

These were the words of Czech Deputy Minister of Finance for Tax and Duties Alena Schillerová, at the closing conference of a Norway Grants project devoted to strengthening the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering systems in the Czech Republic.

While the Czech Republic ranks 37th in Transparency International’s Global Corruption Perception Index in 2015, the government has taken on significant measures to counter corruption in the past years. Among those is a project supported by Norway, aiming at strengthening the country’s anti-corruption and anti-money laundering systems. This is being done by supporting the implementation of selected recommendations made by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against corruption (GRECO) and by purchasing special data-mining software that strengthens the government’s capacity to combat money-laundering.

The key focus of the part of the project which involves the Council of Europe (CoE) is to identify corruption and money laundering risks in the Czech Republic, develop policy and legislative proposals to improve criminal legislation on these matters, and deliver tailored training for law enforcement authorities on criminal investigations of corruption. This part of the project has now come to a close, with the concluding activities held in the end of June this year.

Working together

The close cooperation with the Council of Europe has made it easier for the project team to compare Czech anti-corruption measures with law enforcement in different European countries and participate in study visits abroad. Through cooperation, several workshops have taken place and multiple papers published on topics such as election campaign funding, whistle-blower protection, and conflict of interest.

“The Council of Europe has definitely brought added value to the project: in the organisation of workshops and seminars, quality assurance of papers and documents as well as providing a network of contacts, we have benefited from CoE involvement. The cooperation has also led to closer cooperation between us and the CoE outside of the project,” said Jana Ružarovská, International and Legal Department Officer and administrator of the project at the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic:

“They not only help us with selecting the right experts – they also help us coordinate the work between national and international experts, assess the drafts of prepared papers and they also help us with the final control of the documents. Last but not least, the CoE provides important contacts, discusses all options with us for every event, offers us other solutions and listens and understands the issues we as Project Promoters are facing.”

Improving capacity

Involving the CoE has allowed the project team to develop high-quality proposals and training courses together with a group of international experts which they otherwise would have difficulties reaching. Through the project, around 800 people have received training on how to deal with corruption related matters. These include both individuals from public institutions dealing with anti-corruption matters such as the police, courts, public prosecutor’s offices and ministries, as well as persons and from academia, businesses and NGOs.

 

http://eeagrants.org/News/2016/Together-against-corruption

The Anti-Corruption Project of the Ministry of Finance has delivered results

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Prague, 13th April 2016

The Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance assessed the Project on strengthened the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering system in Czech Republic on today`s conference. This project that is funded from Norway Grants 2009-2014 is based on mutual cooperation of the Ministry of Finance with other state authorities. Participants concentrated on the contribution of the Project to raise the effectivity of fight against financial crime and also on detection of current threats in this field.

“Consequently the corruption influences the whole economy and it is also one of the cause of society demoralization. The corruption is an issue for many public and also private institutions and that is why we need to proceed strongly and coordinated against it,” stated the deputy minister of finance for taxes and duties Mrs. Alena Schillerová.

Wide scope of professionals from state service, NGOs and academics concentrated within the Project on improvement of criminal law related to fight against corruption and money laundering, on transparency of funding of election campaigns or on protection of whistleblowers in CZ. Many workshops and 8 studies has been prepared within these topics.

One of the most important study is concentrated on transparency of beneficial owners. This study was an important source of information for initiative debates according to proposal of amendment of the AML and CFT act in CZ. This proposal of amendment is currently discussed in the Parliament. One of the top expert of the Council of Europe – Mrs. Anne Myers in cooperation with Transparency International CZ and the Office of the Government prepared an analysis on possibilities of functioning of whistleblowers centre in CZ under this Project as well. This analysis served as support in discussions on legal frame of protection of whistleblowers in CZ. Within the topic of improvement of criminal law the representatives of Financial Analytical Unit and the Unit for Combating Corruption and Financial Crime got important connections to their counterparts on their foreign study visits to western European countries and they use these contacts for tighter cooperation with them and for ex-change of information and also experiences within the fight against money laundering.

“I would like to thank all participating institutions cooperating on this Project. Particulary to the Ministry of Justice, the Office of Government, the Ministry of Interior and last but not least to the Unit for Combating Corruption and Financial Crime of the CZ Police” said Mr. Libor Kazda the Head of the Financial Analytical Unit. He also added, that “I really appreciate the employees of our Unit that organized and processed this wide scope of activities.” 

Kateřina Vaidišová
Department of External Relations and Communications
Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic

The Government approved the proposal of the Ministry of Finance and The Czech National Bank on establishment of the Central Evidence of Accounts

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The registry will be administrated by the Czech National Bank and it will include a statement of existing natural and legal persons` accounts opened with banks and cooperative savings. The data about account balances and transactions on clients` accounts will not be a part of this registry. Only the fact of existence of such accounts will be available.
This information could be requested in case of serious suspicion on criminal activity within combating of serious tax evasions by the General Directorate of Customs and General Financial Directorate. It could be also requested by the public prosecutors, judges, intelligence agencies and the Financial Analytical Unit of the MoF to fight against general criminal activity. The registry enable the authorities to find out in which bank the suspicious subject established its account. This information could be obtained upon one request within 24 hours. The fight against tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing will be supported by the speed of acquisition of the information.
The Minister of Finance Andrej Babiš stated that: “The current global questioning of tens of institutions will be eliminated. The risk of information leakage in sensitive cases will be eliminated as well and the speed of obtaining of information will be increased.” Nowadays it takes several days or even weeks to get this information. The state looses the real possibility to intervene effectively in a form of blockage or seizure of the proceeds of crime on the particular accounts due to this delay. Andrej Babiš added that: “The Central Evidence of Accounts is an important pillar that will improve the functioning of Kobra”.
The similar registry is already available in France, Spain, Germany, Romania or in Italy. Establishment of such registry is also recommended in the new EU directive and currently is a part of the proposal of European Commission`s “anti-terrorist package” as well. This system will be active 16 months after the Act become effective, probably in the first half of the year 2018.

 

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Studies related to areas with currently the highest potential risk of corruption and their publication.

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Over one third of the time allocation for fulfilment of targets of the Project CZ10 has passed. Several activities were successfully organized within this period. The last of those activities was workshop named: “Publication of the results from the risk assessment study and its recommendations”. This workshop organized on 5th of May 2015 in Prague was a next logical step following completion of two studies focused on areas with the currently highest potential risk of corruption. These studies were prepared by experts of the Council of Europe in cooperation with erudite national experts.

The first of those studies named:” Transparency of Beneficial Ownership Information for Corporate Entities and Trusts in the Czech Republic” was prepared by Mr. Terence Donovan – European expert for money laundering issues, in cooperation with Mr. Jan Šamánek – Czech lawyer and also expert for issues related to money laundering. This study describes and analyses several possible solutions for issues with information about beneficial ownership, for example establishment of public accessible registry, together with pros and cons of each possibility. Other practical aspects which should be considered by Czech authorities are included in the text together with recommendations of solutions of outlined problems.

The second study named:” The legal and institutional framework regulating conflict of interest in the Czech Republic: Assessment and Recommendations” was prepared by Mr. Quentin Reed – independent consultant for area of fight against corruption, together with Mrs. Lenka Petráková – representative of NGO Oživení o.s. This study highlighted a problem of defining terms like public and personal interest and also highlighted problems related to regional elected members of supervisory boards of companies partially owned by state.

Authors of both studies presented achieved results on workshop with participation of public sector, NGO’s, Norway embassy and other interested offices. Both studies in original version and also Czech translations could be found on our websites – www.cz10.cz.

First steps taken in Program CZ10

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After the opening conference of Program CZ 10 held on June 26, 2014 the first steps towards fulfilling the program and drawing of allocated funds were taken. Planned activities in particular topics of the predefined project were already carried out.

Within the topic “Risks and threats pertaining to corruption and related offences (esp. money laundering) in the CZ the first workshop was realized on October 2, 2014 in Prague. The workshop was entitled: „Risks and threats in the area of corruption and money laundering”. In this workshop with contribution of 25 national experts and 2 experts of Council of Europe two areas with currently the highest potential risk of corruption in the CZ were detected. These are the transparency of beneficial ownership of legal entities and related topic of registers of beneficial owners and also the issue of conflict of interests.

The results of this workshop were the basis for assignment of two complex studies within those detected risk areas. Both studies should be finalised by the end of January 2015 and will be presented on separate conference together with recommendations how to improve the situation in the CZ. The raising of public awareness about results of studies should be ensured by other planned activities of this project in 2015, for example by the preparation of complex communication strategy and its publication.

The first activity within other topic of this program “Proposal to improve whistleblowers protection” was carried out on December 8, 2014 in the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague.  The workshop was entitled: “Announcement of misconduct and protection of whistleblowers”. The aim of this workshop was to obtain the information and experiences regarding whistleblowing with participation of national experts and experts of the Council of Europe. This topic was also consulted in the context of drafted concept of the most recent Council of Europe Recommendation on Whistleblowers.

The initiation of activities within two remaining topics “Proposals for improvement of criminal legislation in the area of anti-corruption and anti-money laundering”  and “The improvement of the oversight and transparency of political party and election campaign financing” are planned for the first half of the year 2015.

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Program CZ10 – Basic information

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Project name: Project to strengthen anti-corruption and anti-money laundering systém in the Czech Republic

Program name: CZ10 – Capacity building and institutional cooperation with the Norwegian public institutions, local and regional authorities

Program sphere: PA 25 – Capacity building and institutional cooperation between the beneficiary State and the Norwegian public institutions, local and regional authorities

Paid by: Norway grants 2009 – 2014

Project implementation: deadline 30.4.2016

Registration number of the grant: NF-CZ10-PDP-1-001-01-2014

Sector code: 1513009

Result: Strengthening the capacity and quality of services provided by public institutions, local and regional authorities, through the strengthening of institutional capacity and human resource development (2503)

Output:

• Increase national institutions to fight corruption
• Increased awareness of anti-corruption methods
• Creation of software for “data mining”

 

 

Approval of the predefined project of the Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance within the Program CZ10

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The project of the Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance – “Support for the detection and investigation of corruption and money laundering in the Czech republic“ was approved within the frame of the Program CZ10 „Capacity Building and Institutional Cooperation between Beneficiary State and Norwegian Public Institutions, Local and Regional authorities“ on September 9, 2014..

The Project will be realized in bilateral cooperation with the Council of Europe. The objective is to assist designated target groups with the fight against corruption and money laundering, mainly by thematically oriented workshops. The target group will consist of representatives of criminal law enforcement authorities (public prosecutors, judges, police officers) and also selected employees of government administration (Financial Analytical Unit of MoF CZ, the Office of the Government, MoJ CZ). As a part of t project, exchange of know-how and experiences among the stakeholders on both national and international level concerning the uncovering, examination and investigation of corruption-related criminal activities and related financial crimes, especially money laundering, including obtaining new information on methods regarding uncovering of these criminal activities from abroad, will be ensured.. Total budget of this project is 23 085 972 CZK.

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