RCMP Calls For Greater Co-Operation Over Money Laundering

by Caroline Maxwell, Tax-News.com, London

17 October 2001

It looks as though world leaders unsettled by recent reports in the Canadian media that the country has been less than co-operative in the fight against money laundering can relax. The Mounties are on the case and, well - they always get their man...

Speaking at a conference organised by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to discuss money laundering issues, RCMP Commissioner, Giuliano Zaccardelli announced the launch of a new Financial Intelligence Task Force, and called for greater co-operation and co-ordination in international efforts to track down terrorist funds.

The Commissioner suggested that despite recent criticisms, it was other countries which were being less than helpful in the money laundering fight, not Canada, although he refused to name names. 'If some countries co-operate less, it makes it a little bit more difficult,' he observed. 'If we can use technology to improve our exchange of intelligence information to move more efficiently against these organizations, that's the sort of alliance we want.'

According to Commissioner Zaccardelli, the new task force is composed of RCMP financial crime experts, representatives from the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency, Citizenship and Immigration officials, and members from private sector groups such as the Canadian Bankers Association. The aim of the body is to 'develop a financial picture of the organizations involved in terrorism,' which will then be passed on to officers in the field.

In the most recent FATF evaluation of progress made by countries on its anti-money laundering blacklist, Canada performed disappointingly, coming 27th on a list of 29 countries rated for their compliance to international standards.

However, the Canadian authorities are confident that this will all change with the advent of the new task force, the impending debut of a new centre for the analysis of financial transactions (FINTRAC), and a raft of changes to the country's anti-money laundering laws. The RCMP conference Chairman, Inspector John Mair painted an optimistic picture of Canada's prospects vis-a-vis the FATF's compliance list earlier this week, predicting that: 'Next year you will see a considerable change in that mark for Canada.'

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