The next Cryptocurrencies and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Training course, scheduled to take place online from 8–11 February, is now open for registration.

The first of our new open courses on the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies, financial crime and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance took place on 7–10 December. The diverse participants include investigators, prosecutors, financial intelligence analysts, bank AML compliance officers and members of virtual asset service providers.

Course leader Federico Paesano, a Senior Financial Investigation Specialist at the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery, explains the value of having participants from different backgrounds:

“Compliance officers benefit from learning the same investigative techniques as law enforcement officers, because the fundamentals are the same. Law enforcement officers benefit from interacting with compliance officers, as it helps them to better understand the reports they share. And in last week’s course, private sector participants working in the cryptocurrency field asked deep and interesting questions that led to greater understanding and insights for everyone – including those new to the topic.”

According to the excellent feedback, the practical investigation “brought theory to life”. The participants used their new knowledge to investigate a money laundering case by tracing a chain of transactions through the blockchain.

A session by cryptocurrency and compliance expert Christine Gschwend on due diligence and AML programmes triggered questions on how the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations apply to virtual assets, and in particular on the so-called travel rule.

The Basel Institute’s Head of Training Phyllis Atkinson rounded off the course with a session on how criminals misuse offshore structures to conceal beneficial ownership and hold cryptocurrencies on their behalf.

Interested? Find out more and reserve your space on the 8–11 February course quickly (last week’s course sold out fast!). It will take place from 09:00–12:30 CET each day.

Learn more

In this short article by Federico Paesano and the Basel Institute’s Head of Training Phyllis Atkinson, find out more about why it’s vital for a wide range of stakeholders in the public and private sectors to be able to investigate and defend themselves against criminals’ abuse of cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets.