Africa-Press – Seychelles. Delegates from multiple member institutions of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Committee (NAC) have completed a virtual assets (VA) and cybercrime workshop delivered by the United States Internal Revenue Service: Criminal Investigation (IRS:CI).
The workshop was delivered as part of an ongoing partnership between the Seychelles and the United States government whereby a thorough capacity building programme is developed and executed, with a particular focus on VA and financial crime.
The United States Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Bank Secrecy Act, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and IRS:CI have been coordinating extensively with the Seychelles government, supported by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and United States embassy, for the design and planning of this workshop, which has been marked as a resounding success.
The delegates from institutions including the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade, Central Bank of Seychelles, Financial Services Authority, Office of the Registrar, Office of the Attorney General, Seychelles Revenue Commission, Financial Intelligence Unit, Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles and the Police have benefited from the knowledge and experience of the IRS:CI facilitators, and have gained an enhanced appreciation of VA fundamentals and VA investigations.
As published in their 2023 annual report, in the financial year 2023 alone, IRS:CI initiated more than 2,600 criminal investigations, identified over $37.1 billion from tax and financial crimes and obtained an 88.4% conviction rate on cases accepted for prosecution. They have successfully seized over $10 billion of virtual assets and are the recognised leader in cybercrime and crypto investigations.
The chairperson of the NAC, Secretary of State Patrick Payet, stated “This workshop is being delivered at a pivotal time for Seychelles in relation to its VA and VASP (Virtual Assets Services Providers) regulatory framework, the policy for which was endorsed by the cabinet of ministers this week. We expect that by March of this year, we will have a new legislation for the sector, which will foster innovation, while simultaneously addressing the risks related to the sector and as outlined in the national risk assessment published in 2022.”
“We expect that this new regulatory framework will enable the Seychelles to play an ever-growing role in combatting financial crime, and a key part of the strategy for the sector is to ensure that capacity is appropriately enhanced and further developed across the penal chain.”
“We look forward to the continued partnership with the United States authorities and express our appreciation for this week’s fruitful workshop and the support being extended.”
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