Project Update
OSCE strengthens understanding in Mongolia of international standards related to preventing money laundering and corruption involving virtual assets
- Issued on:
- Issued by:
- Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, OSCE Secretariat
- Fields of work:
- Economic activities, Good governance
24 representatives of Mongolia’s Independent Authority Against Corruption, along with representatives of other regulatory and supervisory bodies, law enforcement agencies, the prosecution service and the national bank, took part in a training on international standards related to virtual assets on 3 and 4 November in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The workshop explored the evolving virtual assets landscape and the technology behind blockchain transactions. Participants practised using crypto-wallets to conduct cryptocurrency transactions and analysing transactions through public blockchain explorers.
Virtual Assets Expert trainer Olga de Truchis explained that without conducting these transactions themselves, participants could not fully understand the requirements, or the likely absence of requirements, related to ‘know your customer’ (KYC) procedures, or the ease and speed with which funds can be transferred. Understanding how these products work is key to better understanding their risks, while knowing what information is publicly available is essential to investigating them.
Additional sessions were tailored to the specific interests of participants and covered risks associated with virtual assets in relation to money laundering and corruption, as well as key features and potential red flags of specific cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers, including the particular challenges posed by offshore platforms.
Virtual Assets Expert Greta Barkauskienė explained that cryptocurrencies do not constitute a single risk category. Risk depends on an asset's functionality, the activities of the service provider, and the identity and location of the parties involved. Understanding these factors helps apply a risk-based approach to supervision, allocate resources more effectively, and accelerate investigations and progress in asset recovery.
Participants also learned about effective suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and took part in a practical exercise in which they acted as investigators in a fictional cryptocurrency money-laundering scheme.
The event was organized as part of the OSCE extra-budgetary project “Innovative Policy Solutions to Mitigate Money-Laundering Risks of Virtual Assets”, implemented by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA). The project receives financial support from Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States.