On October 2, the Verkhovna Rada approved bill No. 1208-2 “On the Bureau of Financial Investigations of Ukraine” on the first reading. 270 MPs voted in favor of the corresponding decision.

The bill was designed to separate the service and law enforcement functions of the Tax Service, eliminate the Tax Militia, optimize the structure and number of bodies engaging in fighting crime in the field of finance, eliminate duplication of their functions.

The draft law provides for the establishment of the Bureau of Financial Investigations (BFI) as a central executive body, whose activities are directed and coordinated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine through the Minister of Finance of Ukraine.

The Bureau of Financial Investigations is a pre-trial investigation authority whose primary task will be to prevent, detect, terminate, investigate and expose criminal offenses within its scope of responsibility.

Adoption of the bill shall facilitate:

• introduction of new analytical approaches to counteracting financial crimes and conducting effective investigations into complex criminal schemes;

• prevention of budget losses by means of preventing financial crime and minimizing unfair competition;

• optimization of the structure of law enforcement agencies and logistics;

• improvement of the business climate by establishing partnerships between business and regulators.