Cooperation vital to curb terrorist fund
Cooperation vital to curb terrorist fund
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government should push for cooperation with anti-money
laundering agencies abroad to trace the flow of terrorist funds
in a bid to help fight against global terrorism, an official
said.
Yunus Husein, the chairman of the Financial Transaction and
Report Analysis Center (PPATK), said cooperation with other anti-
money laundering institutions would enable the government to
request data from foreign counterparts so as to help track down
terrorist suspects.
"The cooperation allows the sharing of information between two
or more parties. We can ask them to investigate any suspicious
transactions, whether involving money or property," Yunus told
The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"For example, the AMLO database is connected online with every
institution in Thailand. They even receive reports from the
public," Yunus said.
The PPATK, Yunus said, has already entered into agreements
with Thailand's Anti Money Laundering Office (AMLO) and
Malaysia's Financial Intelligence Unit for the sharing of
information.
"But the government has yet to use these arrangements (to
track down the flow of terrorist funds)," he said.
Earlier this week, Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin
Abdullah said that the central bank was talking with its
Singapore counterpart to sound out a mechanism for curbing the
flow of terrorist funds.
Burhanuddin said that similar discussions were planned with
the Thai authorities.
The PPATK is the agency tasked with receiving and analyzing
reports on suspicious financial transactions as part of the
global fight against money laundering.
The global anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF), has listed Indonesia as among the
uncooperative countries and territories (NCCTs) in the fight
against money laundering.
The FATF has put strong pressure on the government to revise
the country's new law on money laundering to comply with
international standards. The pressure mounted following the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
The watchdog gave Indonesia until late September to finish the
amendment of the Law or risk severe financial and economic
sanctions.
Sanctions against NCCTs range from the imposition of premium
charges on transactions with foreign companies, halting
correspondence between Indonesian banks with their counterparts
in FATF countries, and rejecting Indonesian Letters of Credit.
Yunus said the amendment of the money laundering law was set
for deliberation during the current session of the House of
Representatives.
Analysts have said that rampant corruption and weak law
enforcement have made Indonesia a safe haven for international
criminals.
box:
List (as of Aug. 8, 2003) of non-cooperative countries and
territories:
1. Cook Islands 6. Nauru
2. Egypt 7. Nigeria
3. Guatemala 8. Philippines
4. Indonesia 9. Ukraine
5. Myanmar
Source: www1.oecd.org/fatf