CABEI strengthens Costa Rican financial system in ML-TF prevention and management

San José, August 10, 2017. – Today, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), in coordination with the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs (ICD), organized the "Third Seminar on the Latest Developments in the Fight against Money Laundering and a Workshop on Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Matrices.”

The event sought to train and deepen knowledge in the field of risk management, which is marking an international trend as many national and international entities are implementing ML-TF risk management schemes to comply with international best practices, including Recommendation 1 of the International Financial Action Group (GAFI).

The seminar, which was held at the city’s Club Union, included such speakers as the Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Costa Rican Institute on Drugs, Mr. Román Chavarría Campos, and Public Accountant, Auditor and Magister Artium in Financial Administration, Mr. Ricardo G. Vélez Lara. The latter graduated from Universidad Mariano Gálvez of Guatemala and has been working for 10 years as an international consultant and trainer for more than 100 entities and financial groups in several countries of the region.

CABEI’s Integrity and Compliance Official Mr. Nestor Chávez stated that, "The purpose of the event is to guide officials, compliance officers and others individuals related to the National Financial System in the implementation of risk management models and the proper execution of these models within each institution."

During his participation in the event’s opening session, CABEI Director for Costa Rica Dr. Alberto Cortés explained that, "The Bank, which is the region’s strategic partner, plays an important role in the prevention and control of money laundering, not only by promoting awareness-raising and self-regulation processes, but also by establishing joint training programs with other Latin American financial organizations, as well as making efforts for public and private institutions involved in the prevention chain to implement best practices in the matter."

It is noteworthy that the event addressed the following issues: the Australian Standard, the GAFI Checklist, the Colombian Technical Norm and ISO 31000.

The event was attended by compliance officials from the Costa Rican financial system, members of the Financial Intelligence Unit, officials of financial supervision bodies, prosecutors, police officers and other professionals involved in the issue.