European practices against financial crimes: ESBU adopts Italy's experience

 The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine expands cooperation with the Financial Guard - a law enforcement agency of the Italian Republic with over 250 years of experience in countering economic and financial crimes. During a working visit to Rome, an ESBU delegation led by deputy director Pavlo Buzdyhan learned about practical tools for financial investigations, analytics, and countering organized crime.

"For the ESBU, this visit is about practical solutions that can be applied already today. Financial investigations, digital analytics, work with crypto-assets, and the search for illegally obtained assets are areas that must work as a single system. It is this comprehensive approach that we aim to strengthen in the Bureau," noted deputy director of the ESBU, Pavlo Buzdyhan.

One of the key areas is the movement of funds and suspicious financial transactions. Representatives of the Financial Guard spoke about cooperation with the Financial Intelligence Unit of Italy, data exchange, and the use of analytics to detect financial schemes.

They separately focused on crimes involving the use of crypto-assets. Italian specialists presented the practice of analyzing blockchain transactions, identifying owners of digital assets, and conducting international investigations. They also discussed countering tax offenses and response mechanisms.

Another area is the search for money and property obtained by criminal means. At the Center for Countering Organized Crime, the ESBU delegation was presented with approaches to the detection, seizure, and confiscation of such assets, as well as software for data analysis and establishing connections between individuals, transactions, and assets.

As part of the visit, representatives of the Bureau also visited the Academy of the Financial Guard of Italy, where they learned about the multi-level system of training and professional development of employees, in particular, programs for representatives of law enforcement agencies of other states.

We thank our Italian colleagues for their openness, exchange of practical experience, and readiness for further cooperation. The ESBU plans to adapt the approaches developed during the visit to Ukrainian conditions and gradually implement them into practical work.