Money laundering is the device for making illegally obtained funds accessible for the personal use of perpetrators without being traceable back to their illegal source – typically by transferring the funds across international borders to legitimate financial institutions. The central concept of most Anti-Money Laundering Initiatives (AMLI’s) is to reduce the motivation for economic crimes by making it difficult to access their proceeds.
The relationship between money laundering and corruption has been established.
Regimes that lack systems of accountability and transparency also allow for high levels of money laundering and corruption.
The central concept of Anti-Money Laundering Initiatives is to reduce the motivation for economic crimes by making it difficult to access their proceeds. AMLIs’ are also imperative in discouraging the supply of funds to international terrorists and their organizations for restricting the flow of such funds reduces the means available to terrorists and identifying their sources discourages their funders.
The principal global initiative to reduce money laundering to date has been the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) . The FATF recommends 40 +9 actions – for governments to adopt which have been accepted by most OECD countries. Recommendations include making money laundering a crime; requiring financial institutions to: know their clients; maintain records; and exercise due diligence regarding suspicious transactions.
Parliamentarians play a vital role in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism through their influence on legislation, by vigorous oversight of government activity and support of parliamentary auditors, and perhaps most effectively through personal leadership. They engage the public and help to build the political will to act. By engaging parliamentarians in the fight against AML/CFT we can strengthen and extend the international AML/CFT regime globally thus impeding the flow of illegal funds across international borders as well as discouraging the supply of funds to international terrorists and their organizations
Global Task Force
 GOPAC, under the leadership of Hon. Roy Cullen (MP, Canada) is committed to working with its members to increase their capacity to fight money laundering and the recovery of laundered assets. GOPAC has undertaken a number of regional level workshops to build parliamentarian’s capacity to address AML issues. Workshops have been completed in the Dominican Republic (December 2005) and Mexico City (March 2006) for Latin American and Caribbean parliamentarians), in Vienna (September 2005 and May 2007) for Eastern European Parliamentarians and in Kenya (November 2003) for East African parliamentarians.
A workshop for parliamentarians from around the world was also held as part of GOPAC’s 2nd Global Conference in Arusha, Tanzania (September 2006). This workshop produced a resolution which was accepted by all delegates present and which directed GOPAC to establish a Global Task Force of parliamentarians to address the issue.
Since the 2006 Global Conference, the Global Task Force has pursued the action items identified in the Arusha declaration, including:
- Engaged in dialogue with the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors
- Promoted the FATF 40+9 amongst GOPAC’s regional and national chapters.
- Pursued observer status at the FATF.
- Drafted an international convention against money laundering.
- Established a dialogue with the Egmont Group.
- Continued to pursue funding for the Global Task Force.
For more information on the AML Initiative, please contact:
GOPAC Secretariat
255 Albert Street, Suite 802
Ottawa, Ontario CANADA
K1P 6A9
Tel: (613) 237-0143 x. 371
Fax: (613) 235-8237
secretariat@gopacnetwork.org
|
