Bac Ninh, March 13-14, 2023, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Viet Nam Program collaborated with Viet Nam Court Academy (VCA) to organize the workshop on “Strengthening the use of financial information and anti-money laundering legislation in adjudicating wildlife crime”.
In Viet Nam according to the assessment of State Bank of Viet Nam in 2018, the potential risks of money laundering originating from the violations of regulations on protection of endangered, and rare wild species is High-Medium. Meanwhile, the Asia / Pacific Group On Money Laundering (APG) also considered the Vietnamese government's response and actions to money laundering threats from illegal wildlife trade (IWT) activities as a focus within the scope of mutual assessment on prevention and combat of money laundering of Viet Nam. Although wildlife crime has been considered a predicate offence of money laundering crime in Viet Nam (Resolution 03/2019 of the Judges' Council of the Supreme People’s Court), in the mutual evaluation report on money laundering in Viet Nam conducted by the APG and released by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in January 2022, the APG still emphasized that “Viet Nam’s law enforcement agencies have not yet to maximize the use of financial intelligence in tracing criminals, conducting investigations of money laundering and related source crimes.” In addition, the exchange and sharing of financial intelligence between anti-money laundering units of the financial system and competent authorities is also limited.
Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Minh Tuyen - Director of VCA, Bac Ninh, March 2023
In that context, to raise the awareness of judges and court staff at all levels about the seriousness of IWT as a source of money laundering crime, thereby increasing attention and promoting the use of financial information in the adjudication of wildlife-related cases, WCS Viet Nam VCA co-hosted a workshop on "Strengthening the use of financial information and anti-money laundering legislation in adjudicating wildlife crime”. Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Minh Tuyen - Director of VCA, Mr. Pham Thanh Trung - Program Manager of WCS Viet Nam, international experts from UK’s AML Consulting Global Company, lecturers from relevant faculties of VCA, and judges, examiners and other court officials representing the People's Courts of all levels of 25 provinces and cities across the country participated in the workshop.
Mr. Pham Thanh Trung - Program Manager of WCS Viet Nam, Bac Ninh, March 2023
The workshop also created a forum for judges, court officials of People's Courts of all levels and VCA’s lecturers to learn, share and discuss knowledge on national law and international legal framework and best practices in handling money laundering cases associated with IWT.
Exchange between Mr Tuyen and AML Experts, Bac Ninh, March 2023
The workshop was conducted in the framework of the program “Combating Wildlife Trafficking in Viet Nam” funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), United States Department of State.