CBA financial monitoring center, Russian financial monitoring sign cooperation agreement

YEREVAN, January 22. /ARKA/. The Monitoring Center of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) and the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of Russia (Rosfinmonitoring) have signed a cooperation agreement in Yerevan.

CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsian believes “it is good that the CBA Monitoring Center signs its first cooperation agreement with Russia, taking into account Armenian-Russian economic and financial relations.

The agreement is a good opportunity for information interchange, the CBA Chairman said. Armenia can also have an access to the teaching center of Rosfinmonitoring, according to Sargsian.

Armenian specialists, including MPs, will have an opportunity to work on probation in Russia. “It is rather important for us, taking into account the fact that the Parliament views the new draft on the resistance to financial terrorism,” Sargsian said.

The CBA Chairman believes the agreement will open a new page in Armenian-Russian cooperation. Rosfinmonitoring Chairman Oleg Markov stated that Armenia and Russia, as member countries of the Egmont International Group, are cooperating in the exposure and prevention of financial violations, money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Three cases were revealed in 2007, another 15 cases are being investigated now, according to Markov.

He believes the agreement will become a basis for sustainable interdepartmental cooperation by raising effectiveness of the financial control over trans-boundary illegal financial flows.

Armenia became a member of the Egmont International Group which unites financial monitoring services of 120 countries (with the active participation of Rosfinmonitoring as from June 2007).

Armenia and Russia follow the Egmont Group’s rules on information interchange. These principles are the basis for the Armenian-Russian cooperation agreement. –0--