Dear Madame, Sir,
You are hereby invited for a training session on money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risk exposure and risk mitigation related to Correspondent Banking. The training will take place at the location of the National Bank of Belgium [NBB] in Brussels on 24 January 2024 from 14:30 – 17.35 CET.
Context
Correspondent Banking (COBA) is an important financial sector activity and a driver for securing - international - banking, and thus business opportunities and prosperity across borders. However, COBA relationships can be misused and in some cases COBA relationships appear in complex money laundering typologies. The response to these ML/TF risks has been by some financial institutions acting as correspondent banks to de-risk, i.e. closing COBA relationships with respondent banks. While this reaction is understandable, it also hinders continued economic growth for the countries and sectors affected.
Against this background, DG Reform of the European Commission has initiated a project on ML/TF risks affiliated with COBA. An important deliverable under this project is an in-country training for the supervisory authority, the financial intelligence unit and banks on the ML/TF risk exposures and mitigation related to correspondent banking relations.
Objectives of the training
The training will provide an opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with key concepts and risks related to ML/TF and correspondent banking. The training will be based mainly on project findings from a COBA risk mapping exercise that was done by the project across EU Member States.
The COBA project team is going to, among others, present the main ML/TF risks for the correspondent and respondent banks, CDD/EDD and transaction monitoring measures and handling requests for information and cooperation. Enclosed you can find the agenda of the training.
Logistics
The training will be held in English at the NBB's premises at at the auditorium of the National Bank of Belgium, Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 61, Brussels
We kindly request you to send confirmations of attendance.
Photos may be taken during the event to illustrate and support the activities and mission of the National Bank of Belgium. These can be published through various media channels. We try to keep those images and photos as general as possible and not to use targeted images or photos unless we have obtained your permission to do so.