SICCFIN Director Michel Hunault is also Chair of the MONEYVAL Delegation, which is responsible for the Principality’s National Risk Assessment (NRA 2).
How is the Principality preparing for the MONEYVAL evaluation?
The Prince’s Government has done me the honour of entrusting me with the chairmanship of the Monegasque Delegation for the MONEYVAL National Risk Assessment relating to money laundering and terrorist financing. The SICCFIN teams worked to set up the National Risk Assessment, a national strategy, an action plan, guidelines, etc. This was done by mobilising and coordinating the Government, the State, the judiciary, the police, and the entire private sector. SICCFIN also coordinated the drafting of compliance and effectiveness questionnaires, an opportunity to highlight the recent transposition of the European Union 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which has been passed by the National Council so that Monaco now complies with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. The evaluation by the MONEYVAL delegation will be a moment of truth. I hope that the progress made in complying with the FATF recommendations since I took up post, which the Prince’s Government has called for, will be welcomed, even though the evaluation will also focus on previous years.
What resources are being made available?
All available skills are being mobilised to prepare for the arrival of the evaluation team. We have set up an informal coordination group for all private and public stakeholders affected by anti-money laundering and terrorist financing efforts. The purpose of the group is to monitor the effectiveness of the action plan and national strategy. It is intended to continue as a permanent group, operating under the authority of the Minister of State and complementing the work of the existing coordination and contact groups.
What opportunities are being opened up by new technology?
Our aim is to ramp up SICCFIN’s digital transformation, combined with the use of artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of tools to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. These include risk mapping and processing by the investigation section of reports received and requests for information from our foreign counterparts.
The new challenges associated with crypto-assets and blockchain must be measured against the challenge of regulation. SICCFIN is ready and capable of adapting to improve the credibility and efficiency of its work!
Photo credit: copyright – Michael Alesi
