Final ownership transparency increases the confidence of citizens, governments, stakeholders, and financiers in the integrity of the extractive sector, and is an important contribution to a country's economic development. This is related to the demands of international investors and lenders to improve the transparency of the sector.
Taking into account the above-mentioned circumstances, the relevant organizations, researchers, experts, and consultants of Mongolia are taking step-by-step measures such as conducting a survey and discussing the results in order to determine the current state of transparency, plan future goals and measures.
Countries are increasingly looking for ways to combat crime, such as corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion, and to reduce the incidence of crime, with a focus on real owners who benefit from companies.
Therefore, Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption (LTRC), Transparency International Mongolia, and the IAAC jointly organized a discussion on “Supporting Final Ownership Transparency in Mongolia” on September 23, 2021, at the IAAC's Public Center.
The discussion was opened by Dr. Mario Picon, Director of the LTRC, and Mr. Munkhjargal, Director of Transparency International Mongolia. They further provided information on the implementation of the initiative.
Michael Baron, Tim Lo and Batsugar, consultants and researchers of the LTRC project team on “Final Ownership Transparency in Mongolia: A Way Forward” presented the research report. The researchers analyzed the current state of final ownership transparency in Mongolia and presented recommendations for action by the government, legislators, civil society organizations, and the business community on the collection, storage, verification, and disclosure of final ownership transparency. This report is unique in that it addresses a wide range of issues identified with stakeholders in order to create an effective ecosystem for the disclosure of final ownership information in Mongolia.
As Mongolia continues its efforts to attract foreign investment and financing to the mining sector, the researchers noted that there is a need to meet a wide range of transparency requirements, in particular the expectations of all parties operating in the extractive sector. Recommendations were made in specific areas.
The Institute for Natural Resource Governance conducted a survey to determine the risk of corruption in the mining sector. A research team led by Mr. Borgil, a researcher at the Institute, presented the results of a detailed study on corruption in the “scope” of mining companies.
Evaluating the outcome of the discussion, Dr. Mario Picon said “It is the right direction to look at the issue of the final ownership in connection with corruption. We will further cooperate in this field and share international practice, and will provide assistance to Mongolia in improving its legal environment.”
Representatives of LTRC, Barron consulting, the IAAC, the General Department of Taxation, and the General Authority for State Registration participated in the discussion.
online training on "Cryptocurrency and its investigation” WAS organized
On September 22, 2021, the IAAC, in collaboration with the World Bank and the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has organized an online training on “Cryptocurrency and its Investigation” to 300 officers of Investigation Department, Operations Department, and Inspection and Analysis Department, as well as, national, province, the capital city, and district level Prosecutor’s Office.
During the online training, US experts provided training on a key topic based on international experience, including exchanging, purchasing cryptocurrency, and blockchain, electronic transaction control, investigative tactics to detect assets in the form of cryptocurrencies, as well as, common crimes using cryptocurrency, and commonly used investigative tools. The IAAC will continue to provide in-depth training in this area.
