State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine https://www.fiu.gov.ua/ /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/predstavniki-derzhfinmonitoringu-berut-uchast-u-virtualnix-robochix-zasidannyax-komitetu-ekspertiv-radi-Jevropi-z-oczinki-zaxodiv-protidiji-vidmivannyu-koshtiv-ta-finansuvannyu-terorizmu-MONEYVAL.html During June 30 – July 3, 2020, the SFMS representatives take part in MONEYVAL virtual working meetings, which take place in the framework of the 2nd Intersessional consultation of MONEYVAL (22 May -... News 2020-07-02 14:30:00 During June 30 – July 3, 2020, the SFMS representatives take part in MONEYVAL virtual working meetings, which take place in the framework of the 2nd Intersessional consultation of MONEYVAL (22 May - 10 July 2020). The decision concerning the 2nd Enhanced Follow-up Report of Ukraine in the framework of the MONEYVAL 5th round of mutual evaluation is adopted during this meeting. The 2nd Enhanced Follow-up Report was examined via written procedure in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for the 5th Round of Mutual Evaluations. Also, according to the agenda, the following issues are being considered during these meetings, in particular: impact of COVID-19 on MONEYVAL planning and operations; amendments to MONEYVAL Rules of Procedure for the 5th round of mutual evaluations; MONEYVAL Workplan for 2020-2022; MONEYVAL Guidance on conducting typologies work; COVID-19 related ML/TF risks and trends; regional operational plan to counter terrorist financing; typologies research topics for 2020-2021; procedures for conducting mutual evaluations, etc.  ________________________________________________ /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/v-akademiji-finansovogo-monitoringu-vidbuvsya-dvodennij-mizhnarodnij-vebinar-dlya-pravooxoronnix-organiv.html On June 16-17, 2020, on the basis of the Digital Platform of the Academy of Financial Monitoring, a two-day international webinar on “Improving the work of law enforcement agencies during parallel... News 2020-06-18 12:30:00 On June 16-17, 2020, on the basis of the Digital Platform of the Academy of Financial Monitoring, a two-day international webinar on “Improving the work of law enforcement agencies during parallel financial investigations in Ukraine” organized by the EUAM Ukraine and the EU-ACT Project took place. In total, more than 150 participants - representatives of law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, the SFMS, international organizations, specialized educational institutions, research institutions participated in the webinar. The MONEYVAL activities in the field of parallel financial investigations and the experience of evaluating countries in this direction were personally presented by the MONEYVAL Chairman Mrs. Elzbieta Frankow-Jaskiewicz. The speakers of the webinar were leading experts of international level with considerable experience in this field: Jose Manuel Colodras (Regional Coordinator of the EU-ACT Project in Ukraine), Oscar Rey (Investigating Judge (Spain)), Igoris Krzeckovskis (international expert on AML and assets recovery), František Sailer (Senior Financial Crimes Investigator, EUAM). The workshop focused on issues related to the mechanisms that allow financial experts to receive and exchange information, and discussed effective tools of assistance in conducting in foreign financial investigations. Also, the attention was focused on the importance to create and use joint expert groups by law enforcement agencies which would facilitate the establishment of business relations. ______________________________________________________ /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/analiz-pidozrilix-tranzakczij-u-podatkovij-sferi-czifri-ta-ostanni-tendencziji.html The State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine within the specifics of its activities, as a national financial intelligence unit, conducts analytical investigations in order to form suspicions of... News 2020-05-26 09:02:00 The State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine within the specifics of its activities, as a national financial intelligence unit, conducts analytical investigations in order to form suspicions of committing a number of predicate offences, which result in legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime. The subject of investigations are criminal proceeds generated from corruption, human trafficking, drugs and weapons, terrorism and its financing, fraud, etc. At the same time, the SFMS pays constant attention to the analysis of suspicious transactions of money laundering, which have signs of tax crimes, as one of the types of predicate offences. In this regard, a number of large-scale financial investigations have been conducted, which have resulted in the submission of case referrals to law enforcement agencies. The practice of investigations shows that “services” for tax evasion and receipt of cash, which are provided by transit-conversion groups, are in demand among Ukrainian taxpayers. Tax evasion is carried out through the so-called "twists "(fictitious transactions related to VAT fraud), and wholesale and retail trade enterprises can be involved in receiving cash, which in turn “sale” unrecorded cash, conducting transactions of “counter flows”. It should be noted that the so-called “sale” of unrecorded cash is carried out outside the banking system, which complicates its detection. Under such conditions, the identification of such schemes is facilitated by other sources of information and cooperation with law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Since the beginning of 2020, the SFMS has submitted to law enforcement agencies 60 case referrals related to tax crimes using the mechanisms of “transit”, “twisting” and “counter flows”. The amount of money related to money laundering in these materials is UAH 29.9 billion. These case referrals were sent to: -          the Security Services of Ukraine - 34 case referrals worth UAH 16.3 billion; -          the State Fiscal Service - 21 case referrals worth UAH 7.3 billion; -          the Office of the Prosecutor General - 2 case referrals worth UAH 6.0 billion; -          the State Bureau of Investigations - 1 case referral worth UAH 0.2 billion; -          the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine - 1 case referral worth UAH 0.04 billion; -          the National Police of Ukraine - 1 case referral worth UAH 0.04 billion. In particular, based on the results of investigations into the activities of large-scale transit-conversion groups (with the participation of about 4,000 business entities), 31 case referrals with suspicions of forming an unjustified tax credit using the schemes of “twists”, “counter flows” and further legalization of criminal funds totaling UAH 13.6 billion were submitted to law enforcement agencies this year. During the analyzing of these case referrals, funds in the amount of UAH 28.2 million were blocked.   Separately, according to the results of the analysis of suspicious cash out transactions (involving about 4.5 thousand enterprises), since the beginning of 2020, the SFMS has submitted 28 case referrals with suspicion of money laundering for the total amount of UAH 13, 5 billion to law enforcement agencies.   Also, in this year, based on the results of financial investigations, a case referral was prepared and submitted to the law enforcement agency related to tax evasion through the organization of a “carousel” scheme of illegal export of grain and non-return of foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine for the total amount of UAH 2.8 billion. Thus, in January-May 2020, 60 case referrals with suspicions in the tax sphere for the total amount of UAH 29.9 billion were submitted to law enforcement agencies. At the same time, during 2019, the SFMS has submitted 893 case referrals to law enforcement agencies, in which the amount of financial transactions related to criminal proceeds and their laundering is UAH 92.2 billion, of which 137 case referrals worth UAH 26.9 billion are related to tax crimes. The SFMS continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies to identify tax fraud and tax evasion schemes.     /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/v-akademiji-finansovogo-monitoringu-zaprovadzhena-Digital-platforma.html According to the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated March 16, 2020 No. 406 "On organizational measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus" in the State... News 2020-05-18 11:27:00 According to the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated March 16, 2020 No. 406 "On organizational measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus" in the State Institution of Postgraduate Education "Academy of Financial Monitoring", the digital-platform has been launched for the purpose of execution educational programs and financial monitoring trainings. This platform allows to organize the educational process using technologies of distance learning. Specialists of the SFMS and the Academy of Financial Monitoring updated the topics taking into account the new AML/CFT legislation. The first training was conducted for reporting entities - representatives of securities market at the beginning of May. Training has been conducted by specialists from the SFMS, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the National Commission on Securities and Stock Market. On May 15, representatives of reporting entities have successfully passed the certified exam.   Updated schedule of future training courses is published on official website of the Academy of Financial Monitoring. For this purpose, to all financial monitoring entities it’s recommended to use opportunities of distance learning technologies and actively join to digital-platform of the Academy of Financial Monitoring. More detailed information about training on the basis of digital-platform is available on the website https://finmonitoring.in.ua/ or by phones (050) 605-57-71, (044) 594-16-24, (044) 594-16-22. __________________________________________ /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/do-uvagi-uchasnikiv-sistemi-finansovogo-monitoringu.html The EU Delegation to Ukraine translated into Ukrainian the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the assessment of the risk of money laundering and terrorist... News 2020-05-07 14:02:00 The EU Delegation to Ukraine translated into Ukrainian the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the assessment of the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing affecting the internal market and relating to cross-border activities for 2019. The Report represents systematic analysis of the risks of money laundering or terrorist financing for the specific products and services as well as focuses on weaknesses identified at the EU level both in term of regulatory and effective enforcement, and provides recommendations how to address them. The Report identifies products and services which may be potentially vulnerable to ML/FT risks at the level of the EU internal market. Moreover, the Report determines mitigating measures to be taken at the EU and the national level to address risks, as well as provides a range of recommendations for various stakeholders. The full text of the Report can be reached at the following link. /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/nabiraje-chinnosti-novij-bazovij-zakon.html On April 28, 2020, the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Terrorist Financing and Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass... News 2020-04-28 08:22:00 On April 28, 2020, the Law of Ukraine “On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Terrorist Financing and Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction” as of 06.12.2019 No. 361-IX enters into force. The new Law is aimed at: the implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations; the implementation of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and Regulation (EU) 2015/847 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on information accompanying transfers of funds and repealing Regulation (EC) requirements in the legislation of Ukraine, which obligatory should be implemented by EU Member States and associated countries; the fulfilment of the commitments taken by Ukraine when signing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, ratified by the Law of Ukraine of September 16, 2016; the implementation of the recommendations mentioned in the MER of Ukraine by MONEYVAL experts provided following the results of the 5th round mutual evaluation of Ukraine in AML/CTF area, which was approved at the 55th MONEYVAL Plenary meeting; the fulfilment of the commitments defined by the Memorandum of understanding between Ukraine and the European Union ratified by the Law of Ukraine “On ratification of the Memorandum of Understanding between Ukraine as Borrower and the European Union as Lender, and the Loan Agreement between Ukraine as Borrower, the National Bank of Ukraine as Agent of Borrower, and the European Union as Lender” The Law provides for comprehensive amendments to the legislation, which are as follows: laying the groundwork for the possibility of remote verification by reporting entities (REs) which is particularly relevant in the context of the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine; the number of financial transactions features regarding which REs are obliged to inform the SFMS is decreased from 17 to 4. Thus, the REs are obliged to inform about financial transactions involved cash, money transfer abroad, politically exposed persons and clients from the states, which do not fulfil the recommendations of international, intergovernmental organizations that exercise AML activities; the threshold for financial transactions about which the REs should inform the SFMS is increased (from UAH 150,000 to UAH 400,000); the transition to a risk-based approach during the submitting information about suspicious financial transactions by REs and introducing adequate measures of influence for violation of AML legislation: from written warnings and penalties in large amounts to license revocation; the REs range is expanded which encompasses entities providing tax consulting, persons providing services for the establishment, provision of activity or management of legal entities and virtual asset services providers; the procedure for identification of ultimate beneficial owners is improved; the mechanisms of regulation virtual assets are provided for, in particular, a regulator for entities of this sphere is determined; the mechanism of applying targeted financial sanctions, in accordance with the requirements of FATF Recommendations 6 and 7 and UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 and 1373 is refined, in particular, the introduction of the asset freezing procedure and the provisions on international cooperation in this direction are improved; the mechanism for relying on third parties for proper due diligence is introduced; the new requirements on supporting transfers with information about the originator and the recipient of funds are set up; the amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes are introduced, in particular, the new wording of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Legalization (laundering) of property from crime) is introduced. According to the paragraph 7 Section 7 of the Law state authorities are obligated to bring its regulations in compliance with this Law and repeal their regulations that contradict this Law within three months after the entry into force of this Law. Prior to the implementation of these regulations, the SFMS in conjunction with the other supervisory authorities, prepared recommendations for the REs - banking and non-banking institutions regarding the new types of REs registration and the submission (from 28.04.2020) of information on financial transactions subject to financial monitoring, other information that may be related to the ML/TF. Mentioned information published on the official web site of the SFMS at the link.   /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/zaprovadzhennya-digital-platformi-distanczijnogo-navchannya-v-derzhavnomu-zakladi-pislyadiplomnoji-osviti-akademiya-finansovogo-monitoringu.html Pursuant to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 11, 2020, № 211 “On prevention of the spread of COVID-19 acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2... News 2020-04-22 08:46:00 Pursuant to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 11, 2020, № 211 “On prevention of the spread of COVID-19 acute respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus” and established a quarantine regime in Ukraine, the State Postgraduate Education Institution “The Academy of Financial Monitoring” is under quarantine and closed for visitors. At the same time, according to the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated March 16, 2020, № 406 “On organizational measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus” the Academy of Financial Monitoring launches the digital-platform aimed to implement educational programs in AML/CFT area which allows organizing the educational process using distance learning technologies. It is recommended for reporting entities to use the capabilities of remote learning technologies and actively join the digital-platform of the Academy of Financial Monitoring. More information about the digital-platform is available on the official website of the State Education Institution “The Academy of Financial Monitoring”- https://finmonitoring.in.ua/ or by phones (050) 605-57-71, (044) 594-16-24, (044) 594-16-22. /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/Informuvannya-pro-rezultati-roboti-derzhfinmonitoringu-za-I-kvartal-2020-roku.html The SFMS as a financial intelligence unit of Ukraine, given the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, takes enhanced practical measures aimed at counteraction to the legalization... News 2020-04-21 09:30:00 The SFMS as a financial intelligence unit of Ukraine, given the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, takes enhanced practical measures aimed at counteraction to the legalization (laundering) of the proceeds from crime, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation of weapon of mass destruction. In particular, for the 1st quarter of 2020, the SFMS has prepared 239 referrals (of them 95 case referrals and 144 additional case referrals) which have been submitted to: - the Prosecutor’s offices of Ukraine – 34 referrals (of them 5 case referrals and 24 additional case referrals); - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine - 39 referrals (of them 3 case referrals and 36 additional case referrals); - the Security Service of Ukraine - 41 referrals (of them 11 case referrals and 30 additional case referrals); - the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine – 75 referrals (of them 43 case referrals and 32 additional case referrals); - the National Police of Ukraine - 44 referrals (of them 33 case referrals and 11 additional case referrals); - the State Bureau of Investigations 6 additional case referrals. In these referrals, the amount of financial transactions that may be related to the legalization of funds and the commission of another criminal offence, defined by the Criminal Code of Ukraine, is UAH 14,8 billion. The SFMS pays particular attention to the investigation of money laundering facts of corrupt acts, embezzlement and appropriation of state funds and property. Thus, for the 1st quarter of 2020, the SFMS has submitted 47 such referrals (4 case referrals and 43 additional case referrals) to law enforcement authorities, in particular to: - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine - 39 referrals (of them 3 case referrals and 36 additional case referrals); - the Prosecutor's offices of Ukraine – 2 additional case referrals; - the Security Service of Ukraine – 4 additional case referrals; - the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine – 1 additional case referral; - the National Police of Ukraine – 1 additional case referral. In these referrals, the amount of suspicious financial transactions that may be related to the legalization (laundering) of funds or the commission of another criminal offense is UAH 161,4 million. According to the legislation of Ukraine, the SFMS together with law enforcement agencies takes measures aimed at preventing and countering the financing of terrorist activities and separatism. Thus, for the 1st quarter of 2020, the SFMS has submitted to law enforcement agencies 18 referrals (of them 7 case referrals and 11 additional case referrals) regarding financial transactions of persons which, according to information from law enforcement authorities, may be involved in the financing of terrorism (separatism) and/or conducted with the participation of persons, who publicly call for violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or change of boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine, including: - 8 referrals (1 additional case referral and 7 additional case referrals) related to the implementation of financial transactions by individuals, whose identification data coincide with the identification data of the persons included in the List of Persons, related to the commission of terrorist activities or on which person’s international sanctions have been applied; - 1 referral related to the implementation of financial transactions by persons included in annex 1 to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated June 21, 2018 (enacted by Decree of the President of Ukraine dated June 21, 2018, No. 176/2018); - 4 referrals (1 additional case referral and 3 additional case referrals) related to suspicions in the conduct of financial transactions by persons involved in the activities of the international terrorist group "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" or other extremist groups; - 5 referrals (of them 2 case referrals and 3 additional case referrals) that may be associated with suspicion of financing illicit armed groups in the temporarily occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Of the 106 submitted referrals, 32 referrals contained information on identified relationships with the Russian Federation. Referrals were sent to the Security Service of Ukraine. In the 1st quarter of 2020, the SFMS prepared the survey on the Use of non-profit organizations for illegal purposes. In order to increase the effectiveness of interagency cooperation, during the reporting period, the SFMS was coordinating measures for the implementation by the relevant state authorities of the Action Plan to improve the national financial monitoring system based on the MONEYVAL 5th round of mutual evaluation of Ukraine (hereinafter - the Action Plan). Thus, the SFMS has ensured a generalization of information provided by state and law enforcement authorities on the progress of the implementation of the Action Plan in 2018, and in January of this year, sent generalized information to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Also, in order to increase informing the public, the new SFMS web-portal began to operate at the address: https://fiu.gov.ua. The new website has a modern design and more user-friendly interface on Ukrainian and English and provides accessibility for visually impaired users. Within the framework of legislative initiatives, 32 drafts of legal acts have been developed by the SFMS in order to implement the new legal provisions of the updated Law of Ukraine “On Prevention and Counteraction of Legalization (Laundering) of the Proceeds from Crime, Terrorist Financing and Financing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction” during the 1st quarter of 2020. Within the framework of methodological work, the representatives of the SFMS participated in 22 educational events, which involved about 670 persons during the 1st quarter of 2020. The SFMS international cooperation direction has been implemented by participation, in particular: - in the meetings of the Information Exchange Working Group of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units; - in the working meeting with an EU-ACT representative to discuss the developments of the Guidance on conducting financial investigations, and the FIU's staff training plan; - in the face to face MONEYVAL assessors meeting to discuss the draft report of the Slovak Republic within the framework of the 5th Round of mutual evaluation procedure. ______________________________________________ /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/zayava-prezidenta-FATF-shhodo-COVID-19.html FATF published Statement by the FATF President on measures recommended to be taken by the relevant institutions in AML/CFT sphere with regard to COVID-19 pandemic. The Statement is focused on the... News 2020-04-15 16:05:00 FATF published Statement by the FATF President on measures recommended to be taken by the relevant institutions in AML/CFT sphere with regard to COVID-19 pandemic. The Statement is focused on the aspects as follows: -         addressing covid-19-related financial crime risks by remaining vigilant; -         digital onboarding and simplified due diligence; -         delivery of aid through non-profit organisations; -         ongoing outreach and advice. Full text of the Statement by the FATF President can be found at the following link and in the section “Activity” – “Statements of International organizations” of this web-site. ____________________________________________ /en/pages/dijalnist/funkcional/news/golova-derzhavnoji-sluzhbi-finansovogo-monitoringu-ukrajini-Igor-borisovich-cherkaskij-predstaviv-publichnij-zvit-za-2019-rik.html Dear colleagues! Let me present the results of the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine (SFMS) activity for 2019. The SFMS Report for 2019 is available on the SFMS official web site in the... News 2020-04-10 15:00:00 Dear colleagues! Let me present the results of the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine (SFMS) activity for 2019. The SFMS Report for 2019 is available on the SFMS official web site in the section “Activity” – “Activity reports” – “2019” (link). First of all, the Report contains information on the main aspects of the regulatory provision of the Service, its organizational structure, human resources functioning, funding and the main results on the implementation of the SFMS function regarding the detection and blocking of the assets from crime or related to terrorist financing. The important result in 2019 was the presentation of the first Follow-up Report of Ukraine following the results of the fifth round of mutual evaluation of Ukraine and its approval by the MONEYVAl Committee, which took place within the framework of the 58th MONEYVAl Plenary Meeting in Strasbourg, France. The approval of this Report reconfirmed the recognition by the international community steps taken by our country towards increasing the effectiveness of the national financial monitoring system. The second key event in 2019 was the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On the prevention and counteraction to the legalization (laundering) of the proceeds from crime, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction” in December of this year by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which was developed jointly with the SFMS. The Law implements the provisions of the 4th Directive (EU) 2015/849 “On the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing” and partially the provisions of the Regulation (EU) 2018/847 “On information accompanying transfers of funds” as well as the provisions of the 5th Directive (EU) 2018/843. Another key event of the last year was the presentation of the report on the second National Risk Assessment in the field of the prevention and counteraction of the legalization of criminal proceeds and terrorist financing in December. Thus, following the results of the second National Risk Assessment, 11 threats of the AML/CFT system and 24 risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, including 6 – with high level, 16 – with medium level, 2 – with low level were identified. It is also important to focus on the cooperation issue between the SFMS and the reporting entities, noting that the number of reports from all reporting entities over the past five years has increased from 4 million to over 11 million. I would like to acknowledge the work of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Ukraine regarding the generalization of typological studies. In particular, in the reporting year, the Service published the typological study on “Laundering proceeds from embezzlement and property of state-owned enterprises and other entities funded by the state and municipal budgets” which seeks to study the issue of laundering of criminal proceeds related to theft and misuse of budget funds. This is an extremely relevant and sensitive topic, which the SFMS will continue to develop this year. I will also focus on work on improving the effectiveness of cooperation with law enforcement agencies, to which the SFMS submits case referrals. Thus, in 2019, 893 referrals were sent to law enforcement agencies. In the mentioned referrals the amount of financial transactions that may be related to the legalization of funds, as well as the commission of another crime, determined by the Criminal Code of Ukraine is UAH 92,2 billion. In total, 4492 case referrals were sent to the law enforcement agencies from March 2014 till December 2019. The next important aspect of the SFMS activity was the issue of ensuring the coordination of the financial monitoring system participants. Such coordination based on the implementation of the Strategy for development of the financial monitoring system till 2020 is carried out both on information level due to the Unified state information system, and through the activity of the Governmental AML/CFT Council as well as via the cooperation with professional associations of reporting entities and public. I emphasize that the SFMS IT system continued to be modernized in 2019. In particular, in the reporting year, the financial monitoring information system was connected to the system of the electronic interaction of the state electronic information resources called “Trembita”. The software on requests/responses to the state electronic information resources of the state authorities connected to “Trembita” were developed and put into experimental operation. At the same time, a team formed under the SFMS leadership with the idea on “Mechanism of ultimate beneficial owners (UBO) verification”, named “DO100%VIRNO” became the winner and received the award “The Most Innovative Solution” according to the results of the pilot program “Project Laboratory for the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and EU”. I will not neglect such important work element as methodical assistance and cooperation with the reporting entities. I would like to highlight that 2000 specialists of the public and private sector have been trained on the basis of the State Institution of Postgraduate Education “Academy of Financial Monitoring”, belonged to the sphere of the Service in 2019. Also, the SFMS has prepared and published the analytical review on the use of non-profit organizations for illegal purposes. I will note the significant volume of the SFMS work on the international level. The SFMS cooperates with major international organizations, in particular: FATF, MONEYVAL, Egmont Group of financial intelligence units and others. Currently, the SFMS has concluded 79 Memoranda of Understanding with foreign financial intelligence units (FIUs). In 2019, the SFMS actively exchanged financial information with foreign FIUs. At the conclusion, I would like to inform about future plans of the SFMS activities. Thus, an important direction will be the continuation of cooperation with MONEYVAL Committee in the framework of the coordination measures for the preparation and presentation of the second Follow-up report, scheduled during the 60th MONEYVAL Plenary meeting, as well as the implementation of the amended Basic Law legal provisions. The main priority will be the conduction of the strategic analysis of the information on financial transactions, subject to financial monitoring, other financial transactions or information that may be related to the money laundering and terrorist financing suspicion and cooperation with law enforcement agencies. We will continue to improve sharing information process with national financial monitoring system participants. In particular, this year, in addition to the updated the SFMS website, an electronic cabinet will be launched, which will provide electronic interaction between the SFMS and reporting entities and supervisory authorities, as well as the law enforcement agencies and other state authorities. I want to mention that the SFMS as a financial monitoring system coordinating authority, in order to achieve efficient results in its activity, will remain open and provide constructive cooperation with state regulators, law enforcement agencies, reporting entities, and especially with institutes of civil society. I would like to thank to every employee of the Service for the contribution to the results achieved, and to all that, through their hard work, help the SFMS in the implementation of the state policy on financial monitoring issues. ____________________________________________