Working visit of a delegation from the Embassy of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Algiers to the Financial Intelligence Processing Unit Algiers on February 27, 2024

A delegation from the Embassy of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Algiers visited, on Tuesday February 27, 2024, the headquarters of the Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (FIPU).

The British delegation was represented by Mrs. Olivia BALLANTINE SMITH, First Secretary in charge of security matters at the embassy, ​​accompanied by Mrs. Sonia MOUSSAOUI, in charge of cooperation in security affairs and Mr. Neil Anderson, Police Attaché based at the British Embassy in Tunis, covering Algeria.

The FIPU was represented by its Chairman Mr. Mohammed SAOUDIA, accompanied by some members of its Council and executives of the Unit.

On this occasion, Ms. Olivia BALLANTINE SMITH reiterated the commitment and availability of the British side to share with the FIPU its experience in Combatting Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), to put in place adequate mechanisms to respond to the recommendations formulated by the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), in the Mutual Evaluation Report (REM), established in May 2023.

Mr Neil Anderson presented the British experience in combatting crime, in particular via the Dark Web, and wished to share this experience with the Algerian side.

For his part, the Head of the FIPU welcomed the initiatives proposed by the British Embassy, ​​expressing the desire of the Unit to deepen its relations with the British side in the field of AML/CFT, and learn from its experience, particularly with regard to the application of targeted financial sanctions of the UN, Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs), virtual assets and beneficial owner, as well as strengthening cooperation between the FIPU and the UK National Crime Agency (NCA).

At the end of this working session, Ms. Olivia BALLANTINE expressed her gratitude to the FIPU for its warm welcome and fruitful exchanges, and she promised to take into account the needs expressed by the Algerian side in the days to come.

Finally, the two parties also concluded, to reactivate on the occasion of the next plenary of the Egmont group, the Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the FIPU and NCA on September 29, 2016.