RI urged to do more to curb money laundering<\/p>\n
Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money-laundering
\nwatchdog that has listed Indonesia as a non-cooperative nation in
\nthe fight against the practice, has issued recommendations that
\nwould enable the country to get off the list.<\/p>\n
The recommendations were conveyed at a plenary meeting of FATF
\non July 2 in Paris, said Yunus Husein, chairman of the Financial
\nTransaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) antimoney-
\nlaundering agency.<\/p>\n
\"It mainly centers on three issues; Indonesia must improve its
\nperformance in the prosecuting of money-laundering cases, setting
\nup cooperation with similar agencies overseas, and improving the
\nmonitoring scheme of the country's financial system,\" Yunus said
\non Tuesday, adding that the efforts should make the antimoney-
\nlaundering drive more effective.<\/p>\n
On the first issue, PPATK deputy chairman I Made Sadguna said
\nthe country -- via the National Police and Attorney's General
\nOffice -- had yet to complete investigation of cases related to
\nthe laundering of ill-gotten money.<\/p>\n
\"Including the high-profile case of BNI, which has drawn
\nserious attention from the international community,\" he added,
\nreferring to the bank's much-publicized Rp 1.7 trillion lending
\nscam.<\/p>\n
Law No. 25\/2003 defines money-laundering as the practice of
\nconverting money generated from corruption, bribery, smuggling,
\nbanking-related crimes, drug-related crimes, people trafficking,
\ngambling and terrorism into legal investments.<\/p>\n
The PPATK, established two years ago, is tasked with
\ncollecting, recording and analyzing all information reported by
\nfinancial service providers in the form of suspicious transaction
\nreports (STR) and cash transaction reports (CTR). Reports that
\nindicate crimes will be forwarded to the police or the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office for further investigation.<\/p>\n
As of July 6, the PPATK has received 471 reports of suspicious
\ntransactions from the country's banks and non-bank financial
\ninstitutions. \"Of which 295 have been forwarded to the police,\"
\nSadguna said.<\/p>\n
\"The lack of legal action is one reason why Indonesia is still
\non the FATF list of non-cooperative countries or territories
\n(NCCTs),\" he added.<\/p>\n
Being on the list, Indonesia could face FATF countermeasures,
\nwhich include imposition of premium charges on transactions with
\nforeign companies, halting correspondence between Indonesian
\nbanks and their counterparts in developed countries and rejecting
\nIndonesian letters of credit.<\/p>\n
As to improving the monitoring scheme, Yunus said, the PPATK
\nwas working together with Bank Indonesia and the Capital Market
\nSupervisory Agency (Bapepam) to create rulings requiring banks
\nand other financial institutions to undergo a compliance audit to
\noversee their compliance to the anti money-laundering drive.<\/p>\n
\"On-site examination is also part of this effort,\" Yunus
\nadded.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-urged-to-do-more-to-curb-money-laundering-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}