Banks urged to report suspicious transactions
Banks urged to report suspicious transactions
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has strongly urged financial institutions to
report any suspicious transactions they might have come across,
as Indonesia races against time to be dropped from the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) list of countries deemed uncooperative
in fighting global money laundering.
"This is a serious problem. The number of reports is minuscule
compared to the number of existing financial institutions, and
compared to indications that many crime-related transactions are
occurring in the country," Coordinating Minister for the Economy
Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti said on Tuesday after a meeting between
financial institutions and the Financial Transaction and Report
Analysis Center (PPATK).
Dorodjatun, who is also deputy head of the country's anti-
money-laundering committee, said responding to the government's
call was essential in getting Indonesia off the FATF list of non-
cooperative countries and territories (NCCT).
The FATF is a global money laundering watchdog set up by the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
During its latest meeting in February, the Paris-based
watchdog retained Indonesia on its NCCT list, despite the
country's efforts to combat money laundering, such as amending
Law No. 15/2002 on money laundering, establishing the PPATK and
passing Law No. 25/2003, which requires banks to have a thorough
knowledge of their customers.
The FATF plans to convene again in June and meet with the
government to review Indonesia's seriousness in cracking down on
money laundering.
PPATK head Yunus Husein said that as of March 30, the center
had received only 558 reports of suspicious transactions from 37
banks, one pension fund manager, one funding institution and one
securities company out of 137 banks, 393 pension fund managers,
and hundreds of funding institutions and securities companies.
Meanwhile, none of the 2,130 rural credit banks (BPR), 814
foreign exchange traders and money delivery companies, 261
insurance companies, 178 stock brokers, 18 custodian banks and 10
mutual fund companies had filed any reports with the PPATK.
Dorodjatun detailed the possible sanctions that may be imposed
on NCCTs, including halting correspondence between NCCT banks and
their counterparts in FATF countries, rejecting letters of credit
drawn by NCCT banks and imposing tight scrutiny and premium
charges on any transactions conducted by NCCTs with foreign
companies, which would create a high-cost economy.