Eurojust meetings on money laundering and asset recovery outcome report : 19-20 June 2023, 20-21 June 2024.

The first and second Eurojust meetings on Money Laundering and Asset Recovery took place on 19- 20 June 2023 and on 20-21 June 2024. The meetings brought together prosecutors specialised in asset recovery and tackling money laundering from the European Union and countries with liaison prosecutors at Eurojust. Other participants included the European Commission (DG FISMA, DG HOME, DG JUST, and DG ECFIN), Europol, EPPO, EJN, the CARIN network, Interpol, the Council of Europe (MONEYVAL), the Egmont Group, FATF, Task Force KleptoCapture, as well as representatives from law enforcement agencies, Financial Intelligence Units, (FIUs), Asset Recovery Offices (AROs) and Asset Management Offices (AMOs), and experts in cryptocurrencies. Money laundering and asset recovery are cross cutting matters that merit the interest of all practitioners working in criminal justice. Money laundering can be associated with any crime type, and so can recovering the ill-gotten gains from criminal activity. This explains the continuous efforts by the EU to improve the fight against money laundering, e.g. the Directive on Countering Money Laundering by Criminal law; the Law Enforcement Directive; and the recently adopted Anti-Money Laundering Package on 30 June 2023. The same can be said about improving cross-border cooperation in asset recovery matters, e.g. the Regulation on Mutual Recognition of Freezing Orders and Confiscation Orders; the Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation, and the Directive to criminalise the violation of Union restrictive measures, the latter both adopted by the Council on 12 April 2024. The objectives of the two-day meetings were to bring together a wide range of practitioners in money laundering and in asset recovery to: – Develop a unified approach to combat money laundering and enhance asset recovery efforts; – Learn more about the European Commission’s legislative developments in the fields of asset recovery, violation of Union restrictive measures, and money laundering, some of which have, in the meantime, been adopted. – Exchange experiences in relation to money laundering and asset recovery casework; – Learn more about the fast developing field of cryptocurrencies in asset recovery; – Have interactive workshops on matters related to cooperation on money laundering and asset recovery issues. The news item ofthe 2023 meeting on Eurojust’s website can be found here, and the 2024 meeting here. Read More