The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission recently supported the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) by participating in a training
seminar in Israel jointly organised by the UNODC and the Israel Money
Laundering Prohibition Agency.
The seminar and workshop were held on 25th and 26th June and were aimed
at financial supervisors and regulators, covering anti-money laundering
measures and the combating of financial terrorism. Among the outside experts
speaking at the seminar and moderating workshops was Chris Collins, Head of
Insurance Supervision at Gibraltar's Financial Services Commission who
brought the international insurance dimension to the conference which also
included expert speakers from the UK and Canada.
The conference follows a package of measures introduced by Israel after
its inclusion on the FATF "blacklist"of non cooperative countries and
territories in 2000. Israel was removed from the blacklist in June of 2002.
as a result of the implementation of wide-ranging legislation and the
establishment of the Israel Money Laundering Prohibition Authority (IMPA),
Nevertheless, the staffs in the authorities supervising Israeli financial
institutions and in the IMPA require training and need to share the
experiences of other countries which have had internationally recognised
legislation in place for longer; Chris commented "From the reactions and
interest shown by the 70 or so people who attended the seminar, it seemed
clear that there was a large appetite to learn from the experiences of the
overseas experts. The UNODC believe that, following this seminar all Israeli
authorities concerned in the fight against money laundering and financing
terrorism will be better placed to carry out their roles more effectively in
future".
Marcus Killick, Financial Services Commissioner, stated that he was
delighted that Gibraltar's regulators were able to co-operate with this very
worthwhile conference.