India is in the process of making suitable amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to bring them in line with the main recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
He was addressing the welcoming ceremony of the Asia/Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering that started here on Tuesday. The APG on Money Laundering is an autonomous and collaborative international organisation with a membership of 40 countries and other international and regional observers.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 presently covers 156 offences under 28 different statutes as predicate offences and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act deals with terrorism and combating funding of terror, Mr. Mukherjee said.
A Financial Intelligence Unit has already been established to report suspicious financial transactions within the country. As a member of the FATF, India has also accepted enhanced responsibility as the Asia Pacific Regional Review Group Co-chair.
India has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime and also the UN Convention Against Corruption, besides constituting a Financial Stability and Development Council, whose role is to have inter-regulatory coordination to ensure compliance with the nation’s international obligations, he said.
India underwent its first APF mutual evaluation in 2005 and a joint APG and FATF mutual evaluation in 2008. India has been a member of APG since March 1998 and became the 34th member of the FATF in June 2010.
Reiterating the nation’s commitment to counter money laundering and financing of terrorism, Mr. Mukherjee said that a number of measures to improve the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML and CFT) regime have been brought into place, in tune with the FATF standards.
The menace of money laundering, which has been undesired result of the structural changes in the global economy, cannot be contained by any nation alone. Left unchecked, money laundering can undermine the integrity of any financial system. The quantum of money generated from criminal activities and laundered throughout the world is believed to be several billions of dollars – up to as much as 2 to 5 per cent of the global GDP.
All nations should come together to establish an effective, efficient and more productive crusade against money laundering. The need for mutual legal assistance, especially in extradition, and exchange of information and intelligence among enforcement agencies are imperative for this, Mr. Mukherjee said.
K. Jose Cyriac, APG co-chair and secretary to Union Government; Tony Negus, APG co-chair and Commissioner, Australian Federal Police and Giancarlo Del Bufalo, president, FATF and Gordon Hook, APG executive secretary, were present.
The APG meeting will end on July 22.
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