Kenyan officials working in the fields of anti-corruption, intelligence and financial investigation undertook a four-day intensive training programme on Advanced Operational Analysis last week. Delivered online by our International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) training team, the course combines a self-paced eLearning course with more advanced presentations and a complex practical exercise.

“I loved the breakout sessions”

Although ICAR has piloted this blended learning concept successfully before in Peru, Uganda, Namibia and Ecuador, this is the first time that the training programme was conducted fully online, including the “on-site” element.

The practical exercise involved a simulated analysis of a suspicious transaction report, which the participants conducted in small groups in virtual breakout rooms. Our experience is that when it comes to practical exercises and teamwork, virtual spaces are never as effective as getting everyone together around a physical table. Nevertheless, one participant said they “loved the breakout sessions”.

Another participant commented on how useful it was to complete the “excellent” self-paced Operational Analysis eLearning course before taking the programme. “It was practical … and highly interactive, easy to understand and very user-friendly,” they said.

Multi-agency groups – practising “how they should engage in real cases”

Echoing previous comments on how ICAR training programmes promote inter-agency cooperation, one participant said "The multi-agency groups made it easier for participants to interact and project how it is they should actually engage in real cases."

The 16 participants came from various Kenyan agencies responsible for investigating and prosecuting financial crimes, including:

• Financial Reporting Centre (Kenya’s Financial Intelligence Unit - FIU)
• Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission
• Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
• Kenya Revenue Authority

The main objective was to strengthen the analytical skills of financial intelligence analysts at the FIU. But the course was also designed to help participants from the other agencies to understand how the FIU operates and how they can benefit from its products while investigating or prosecuting financial crimes and recovering the proceeds of crime.

One prosecutor said "I now appreciate better the work of FIU and I wonder how it can really be fully utilised in prosecution-led investigations." The FIU analysts also learnt how to tailor their reports to the needs of law enforcement or prosecutorial authorities. One stated that for him, "it was one of the most useful courses of 2020."

Free eLearning courses and quick guides

The Operational Analysis eLearning course, which was developed jointly with the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, is freely available on the Basel Institute’s new LEARN platform. The platform is still under development and will shortly host all of the Basel Institute’s eLearning courses, as well as useful guidelines and resources for practitioners.

In the meantime, see an overview of all of our free eLearning courses on our main website. Simply log in or create an account to get started.

You may also like some of our recent quick guides:

• Phyllis Atkinson’s quick guide to effective training on financial investigations
• Thierry Ravalomanda’s quick guide to the role of FIUs in asset recovery
• Peter Huppertz’s quick guide to eLearning for asset tracing and financial analysis

View all quick guides here.