EU And G7 Make Commitments On Money Laundering

by Caroline Maxwell, Tax-News.com, London

12 February 2002

According to international news agency, Reuters, the G7 countries have formulated a plan of action on anti-money laundering procedures, following this weekend's meeting in Ottowa.

A statement obtained by the news agency announced that there would be enhanced cooperation and co-ordination between the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, but was somewhat lacking in detail as to the specifics of the action plan.

'We will develop a mutual understanding of the information requirements and procedures that different countries can use to undertake freezing actions,' the document reportedly read. 'We will also develop key principles regarding the information to be shared, the procedures for sharing it, and the protection of sensitive information.'

Meanwhile, it appears that the recent European Union meeting was somewhat more successful in terms of formulating concrete plans, and a four-pronged attack on international money laundering and terrorist financing was agreed upon.

On Friday, the EU announced that there will be an examination of the transparency of capital flows, sanctions will be imposed on non-cooperative countries, greater cooperation between the police, and the legal, and financial sectors of European countries will be enforced, and all member states will look at how to make the risk policies of their banks more efficient.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said at the Paris conference that the proposed legal and regulatory changes might also provide the additional benefit of ensuring that a situation like the spectacular Enron collapse never occurs again.

'Trusts, anonymous foundations, companies for non-residents, whatever their exact legal characteristics...have no other goal than to prevent the identification of their economic beneficiaries,' he accused, adding that: 'They are equally... conducive to accounting manipulation, as one could see in the case of the Enron debacle.'

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