In a letter to State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov, Mr Putin pointed out that the Convention had created a basis for expanding international cooperation in the fight against the legalisation of the proceeds of crime, and for coordination of efforts to search, seize and confiscate them and prevent their filtering into legal commerce.
Signatories to the Convention were, among others, the United Kingdom, Italy, Cyprus, Ukraine, France, Germany, and Switzerland.