Team finalizes amendment of money-laundering law
Team finalizes amendment of money-laundering law
A'an Suryana and Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Working under a tight schedule, a team consisting of legislators
and government officials has finished debating amendments to the
money laundering law, with the final draft set to be passed into
law on Sept. 16.
The 35-man team agreed on the revision of a number of clauses
in the prevailing law to bring the law into line with
international standards. The team will seek approval of the
amendments from House of Representatives Commission IX on legal
affairs, said Yunus Husein, chairman of the Financial Transaction
and Report Analysis Center (PPATK).
PPATK officials joined the team, along with officials from the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and legislators from the
commission.
"The debate went well and we've managed to settle contentious
clauses in time. A plenary session has been scheduled for Sept.
16. We'll have a new law (on money laundering) by then," Yunus
told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, saying discussions had been
taking place since last weekend.
Backing up Yunus's remarks, Minister of Justice and Human
Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra confirmed that deliberations had been
completed.
The completion of the debates should provide some respite for
the government, which has been under pressure from the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) -- a powerful global antimoney-
laundering watchdog -- to complete the process by the end of
September at the latest, or the country risks international
sanctions.
Yunus and Yusril shared the same view that, by beating the
deadline, Indonesia has a good chance of avoiding 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.
"Should everything go as scheduled, Indonesia will definitely
avoid those sanctions," Yunus said, adding that an Indonesian
delegation would meet with FATF officials in Macau on Sunday to
give an update on the progress here.
The Macau meeting is a prelude of an upcoming annual
convention of FATF -- a global grouping working under the
auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) -- which is slated for early October in Paris.
However, even with the amendments, it is unlikely that
Indonesia will be immediately removed from FATF's list of
uncooperative nations in the fight against money laundering,
according to Yunus, because the global agency would need more
time to assess whether the new law had been truly implemented.
Indonesia is currently listed as one of the countries deemed
uncooperative in combating money-laundering activities.
Crucial points in the amendments
1. Banks and other financial institutions are required to report
suspicious transactions within three days, as compared to the 14
days in the current law.
2. Termination of a clause that requires banks or financial
institutions to report to the authorities only if they find
suspicious transactions of at least Rp 500 million. This means
that suspicious transactions must be reported regardless of the
amount involved.
3. An additional clause that bans banks and financial
institutions from leaking information about the reported
transactions to other parties. Violation of this risks fines or
in some cases a jail term.