Basel Institute senior advisor and former board member Hans-Peter Bauer presented at the Baltic AML Forum on 2 October on the topic of Country Risk Assessment - A Difficult Task.
The Forum was opened by the Lithuanian Minister of Finance and attended by 150 participants, who were mainly compliance officers and tech experts from Baltic-region banks, FinTech companies and cryptocurrency ventures.
Peter Bauer's presentation included references to the Basel AML Index, which raised particular interest for two reasons:
The Q&A session gave Peter an opportunity to explain the methodology and the results of the 2019 Basel AML Index rating. He emphasised the recommendation that Estonia – like Latvia and Lithuania – should undergo an FATF Mutual Evaluation review by regional body Moneyval at the earliest possible opportunity, in order to reestablish trust and the reputation of an otherwise well-functioning regulatory environment.