Rift Develops In Liechtenstein Parliament Over Government Stance On Money Laundering Law

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

05 January 2004

In a recent interview with the Liechtensteiner Vaterland newspaper, Vice Parliamentary President, Peter Wolff slammed the government for the tenor of its response to criticisms which he had made of recently approved anti-money laundering measures.

On December 18, Parliament approved the adoption of Directive 2001/97/EG, which amends the existing Directive on the prevention of the use of Liechtenstein's financial system for money laundering purposes.

Hitting back at allegations that he raised concerns about the Directive for party political reasons, Mr Wolff explained to the Liechtensteiner Vaterland that:

"In my statements, I had announced that, fundamentally, I had no problem with this directive and that, therefore, I would appove its adoption. What I dared to say, however, was that I worry about the direction of the journey."

He continued:

"The report and motion of the government doesn't mention that this regulation opens up the issue of fraudulent tax evasion. I gained the impression that the government intends to sweep the critical points in the directive under the carpet."

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