European Anti-Money Laundering Committee Meets In Liechtenstein

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

17 April 2002

According to a report in this week's Liechtensteiner Vaterland, the Council of Europe's Select Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures met in Vaduz earlier this month to discuss anti-money laundering strategies and recommendations.

The paper reports that the three main items under discussion at the Select Committee PC-R-EV meeting were the continuing fight against terrorist financing, investigation into and prosecution of white collar crime, and the role of fiduciaries and lawyers in countering money laundering and organised crime.

The Liechtenstein news service revealed that 70 delegates from 20 of the 24 member countries attended the April 9-11 meeting, and professed themselves satisfied with the conclusions reached. Recommendations for member states on the topics discussed were formulated, but as yet no detail on these has been released by the European body.

However, despite the jurisdiction's active participation in anti-money laundering initiatives - clearly recognised by the Financial Action Task Force, which removed Liechtenstein from its blacklist of uncooperative countries last year - it is expected that the principality will remain on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's amended list of 'uncooperative tax havens', due for release later in the week.

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