Seminar on the “Prevention of money laundering in the legal profession”

Details
Published: October 24, 2023
On the podium from left to right: Agim Muslia (FIU Albania), Edmond Konini (General Secretary of the Albanian Bar Association), Prof. Dr. Maksim Haxhia (President of the Albanian Bar Association), Dr. Philip Seel (expert), Dr. Veronika Denninger (Director of the Federal Bar Association).
On the podium from left to right: Agim Muslia (FIU Albania), Edmond Konini (General Secretary of the Albanian Bar Association), Prof. Dr. Maksim Haxhia (President of the Albanian Bar Association), Dr. Philip Seel (expert), Dr. Veronika Denninger (Director of the Federal Bar Association).
Albania

IRZ held a seminar on “Prevention of Money Laundering in the Legal Profession” on 19-20 June 2023 in collaboration with the Albanian Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association.

The background to the event was the reform of the law “On the legal profession in the Republic of Albania” in 2018. The legal profession, supervised by the Bar Association, is under an obligation to report suspected cases of money laundering and terrorist financing within its own client base to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

IRZ, assisted by the Federal Bar Association, invited Dr. Philip Seel, lawyer and notary from the law firm STREITBÖRGER PartGmbB in Hamm, to present the German and European legal framework. 

The main discussion topics included:

  • Establishment and structure of the self-governing money laundering monitoring by the legal profession
  • The actual experience of money laundering in the legal profession
  • Practice of the supervision of money laundering by the bar associations
  • EU initiatives to combat money laundering

Dr. Seel discussed German legal practice in the prevention and combating of money laundering in detail and presented the relevant tasks and approaches of the German chambers to the 22 participating lawyers using the example of his honorary role as a board member of the Hamm Bar Association. Mr. Edmond Konini, Secretary General of the Albanian Bar Association and Mr. Agim Muslia, Head of the Albanian FIU, reflected the subject matter of the presentations based on the legal situation in Albania. This was followed by expert talks in which participants commented in their numerous contributions on the topic.

It became clear during the seminar that, due to the change in the law, the Albanian legal profession is conflicted between serving the public interest in combating money laundering and its obligation of confidentiality towards clients. Although the Albanian lawyers feel they are “under a legal obligation”, some participants initially expressed the need for clarification regarding whether and by whom a risk analysis of the client base should be carried out. Attendees raised fears that the position of the legal profession in Albania could be weakened owing to the additional financial and human resources involved in this risk analysis.

The event was funded by the Federal Ministry of Justice and follows on from years of intensive cooperation with the Albanian Bar Association. The long-term aim of the exchanges is to provide professional and practical support to Albanian lawyers and to highlight European and German best practices to assist in the effective and efficient efforts to combat money laundering in Albania.