FATF requests mutual legal assistance law<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog
\nsponsored by developed nations to curb money laundering, has
\nasked the government to formulate a special law on mutual legal
\nassistance that would enable Indonesia to share legal information
\nwith other countries in the fight against this form of crime.<\/p>\n
The law would basically allow a foreign country to participate
\nin investigating money laundering crimes in Indonesia, especially
\nwhere these are committed by the citizens of the country in
\nquestion.<\/p>\n
This is part of a set of demands made by the FATF in order for
\nIndonesia to be excluded from the list of countries deemed
\nuncooperative in the global fight against money laundering.<\/p>\n
Another demand is for the amendment of the country's existing
\nanti-money laundering law.<\/p>\n
Yunus Husein, the chairman of the Financial Transaction and
\nReport Analysis Center (PPATK), said the article on mutual legal
\nassistance in the revised anti-money laundering law was deemed
\ninsufficient.<\/p>\n
\"In article 44, mutual legal assistance only covers the search
\nfor evidence. But the FATF wants to include the search for and
\nconfiscation of documents, and other evidence that a crime has
\nbeen committed,\" Yunus told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The FATF considers mutual legal assistance to be crucial to
\nthe fight against money laundering as it is a cross-border crime.<\/p>\n
However, Yunus said the request would be difficult to accede
\nto as passing a new law would take a long time.<\/p>\n
\"We have told the FATF that this would be too difficult for
\nus. We have decided to include the question of mutual legal
\nassistance in the amendment law,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Money laundering is the practice of converting money generated
\nfrom corruption, bribery, smuggling, bank-related crimes, drug-
\nrelated crimes, human-trafficking, gambling and terrorism into
\nlegal investments.<\/p>\n
The government has completed drafting the bill amending the
\n2002 anti-money laundering law, but this has yet to be debated by
\nthe House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
\"The House of Representatives has scheduled the deliberation
\nof the amendment bill for Aug. 27, so hopefully before the end of
\nSeptember, the House will have passed the bill,\" Yunus said.<\/p>\n
The FATF will convene in early October. And if by that time
\nthe deliberations have not been completed, serious financial and
\neconomic sanctions may be imposed by the developed nations
\nagainst Indonesia, which some say could cause serious harm to the
\ncountry's economy.<\/p>\n
The FATF has been demanding a revision of the anti-money
\nlaundering law as some of the law's articles do not meet
\ninternational standards. For instance, the current law requires
\nbanks and financial institutions to report suspicious
\ntransactions valued at Rp 500 million or more. This clause will
\nnow be replaced by one stipulating that all dubious transactions
\nhave to be reported to the authorities.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Yunus also urged the government to issue a
\npresidential decree to provide a stronger legal basis for the
\nPPATK.<\/p>\n
The PPATK is a body tasked with analyzing and investigating
\nquestionable financial transactions.<\/p>\n
At present, the body is still funded by Bank Indonesia. Yunus
\nsaid that the government had yet to disburse some Rp 8 billion to
\nfinance the operation of the PPATK. The funds were supposed to
\nhave been disbursed in July.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fatf-requests-mutual-legal-assistance-law-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}