RI securities firms comply with rules on money-laundering
RI securities firms comply with rules on money-laundering
Dow Jones, Jakarta
The Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) said on Monday 70
percent of Indonesia's securities firms are in compliance with
new regulations aimed at stamping out money-laundering and
financing for terrorist groups.
"Based on our recent monitoring inspection, only about 70
percent of Indonesia's total 183 securities firms comply with
(the new regulations)," Bapepam Chairman Herwidayatmo told
reporters.
Herwidayatmo didn't name the securities firms that are and
aren't in compliance with the new regulations.
"There are no sanctions levied to firms that do not comply
with the rules (after the inspections)," Herwidayatmo said.
But he added his office will revoke licenses of firms that
continue to fall below certain standards when the regulations
come into full effect from July 15.
Last week, about 50 inspectors from Bapepam visited all
securities firms to examine the records of every brokerage firm
to see whether the firms were in compliance with recently passed
"know your customer" regulations.
Those rules are designed to ensure the firms know what kinds
of businesses their clients conduct - information that will help
authorities spot transactions that could violate money-laundering
rules.
Herwidayatmo said last week's inspections were aimed primarily
at identifying firms with problems in record-keeping so they can
improve, rather than punishing firms that aren't yet in
compliance.
The U.S. and other Western nations have long worried about the
potential for money laundering and terrorist financing in
Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population and
which the West generally regards as having poorly supervised
financial markets.
Last year, Indonesia passed a money-laundering law amid
pressure from foreign countries, and particularly the U.S., which
views the regulations as a key part of efforts to cut off
financing for terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda.
The initiative is part of a government effort to comply with
international standards overseen by the Financial Action Task
Force on Money Laundering, or FATF, which is based in Paris.
FATF, an intergovernmental organization created in 1989, has
warned it may compel international financial institutions to
impose hefty premiums on all transactions with Indonesian
counterparts unless the government strengthens its money-
laundering law by September.
Along with insisting that know-your-customer rules be
enforced, the FATF also has called on Indonesia to make several
other changes to its money-laundering laws.
Among them, it wants a limit on the size of transactions that
can be labeled "suspicious" to be removed, as well as stronger
protection for whistle-blowers who report money-laundering
crimes. The FATF would also like more information sharing between
countries.
Indonesia's parliament is considering amendments to provide
for those recommendations, Herwidayatmo said.
He expects parliament will ratify amendments before September.