Govt upbeat RI to be dropped from money laundering list

Govt upbeat RI to be dropped from money laundering list

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After lobbying members of the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), a global anti-money laundering group, the government is
optimistic Indonesia will be removed from the FATF's blacklist.

Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu was upbeat on Monday over
the prospect of the country being removed from the list of
noncooperative countries and territories (NCCT) set out by the
powerful Paris-based FATF.

"The FATF countries that we have talked to have responded
positively to our attempts to combat money laundering. There are
signs that they will drop us from the NCCT list since we have
done a lot in that direction," Mari said at the State Palace.

Mari is among the ministers deployed by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono to lobby member countries of the FATF. Mari
recently visited France and Britain to that purpose. France is
the current head of the FATF.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie, who has
been in discussions with the United States and Canada, also
expressed confidence Indonesia would be removed from the list.

"We are confident we will be off of the blacklist during the
upcoming session of the FATF. My meetings in the United States
and Canada were very promising," said Aburizal.

The FATF will convene in Paris on Wednesday to review the NCCT
list and at the same time decide the fate of Indonesia.

FATF is a global anti-money laundering watchdog set up by the
developed nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development.

Indonesia has been on the noncooperative list along with
Nauru, Nigeria, the Philippines, Myanmar and the Cook Islands
since 2001.

By being on the list, Indonesia risks several sanctions, which
include higher risk premiums imposed on local firms when making
transactions with international firms; termination of
correspondence alliances between local banks and banks in member
countries of FATF; and the rejection of letters of credit (L/Cs)
issued by local banks.

Mari said the government had taken several important steps to
get off the noncooperative list, including passing an anti-money
laundering law and establishing the Financial Transaction and
Report Analysis Center (PPATK). She also said the PPATK had
audited the country's financial institutions to uncover any money
laundering activities.

"I have told the FATF member countries that with all of our
efforts, we deserve to be removed from the list," she said.

However, there is no guarantee the FATF will see the efforts
as sufficient, particularly since they have produced few concrete
results.

One of the concerns of the FATF is that Indonesia has not yet
been able to bring a money launderer to court, despite the legal
framework for the prosecution of the crime.