Regional Conference on Tackling Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: Latin America, Caribbean, and EU Unite in Mexico City

The Mexican capital is the venue for the Regional Conference on the use of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, organized by the EU AML/CFT Global Facility (Global Mechanism of the European Union against money laundering and financing of terrorism).

The Financial Intelligence Unit of Mexico and the Financial Action Group of Latin America are the co-sponsors of the event that begins its work sessions this Wednesday, although the opening ceremony the day before marked the work agenda that will close tomorrow.

The organizers indicated that the conference aims to strengthen the capacity of the public and private sectors to share information, exchange good practices, identify problems and create solutions to this type of crime.

In addition, it aims to sensitize all the actors involved to reduce and counter money laundering and terrorist financing in lucrative markets and protect a country’s heritage.

The regional event is held at the National Museum of Anthropology with the assistance of 120 high-level participants from Latin America and the Caribbean, the European Union and international institutions such as Unesco, Interpol and the World Customs Organization, among others.

The Secretary of Culture of Mexico, Alejandra Frausto, highlighted the importance of collaborating inter-institutionally to stop the trafficking of heritage assets, which is, in addition to a legal matter, also a matter of human rights.

For his part, the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Pablo Gómez, referred to the work of that office in identifying and tracking illicit trafficking of cultural property in Mexico, related to money laundering.

The executive of the Action Group, Esteban Fullin, acknowledged that the issue of trafficking in works of art and money laundering has been little explored, when it comes to a threat and a crime that generates illicit profits, hence the importance of conference.

Anne Giudicelli, an expert from the EU Global Facility, highlighted that bringing together investigators, prosecutors, financial intelligence officers and others at the same table is a great success and the first step towards a stronger and more effective response to prevent the action of crime. to launder money and finance terrorism in these lucrative markets.

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