Says South American Financial Watchdog Organization Gafisud (January 28, 2007) The South America Financial Action Group (Gafisud), an international intergovernmental organization designed to fight white-collar crime, reported last week that Chile is falling short of international standards in the fight against money laundering.
The Finance Ministry revealed some of the Gafisud’s conclusions at the end of 2006, but it was not yet known how Chile had “scored” in the final report, which defined 49 categories that should be fulfilled in order to fully combat the problem.
The final report, released in Buenos Aires last week, showed that seven Gafisud categories were not being properly met in Chile. For example, the law in Chile does not require supervision or risk assessment of non-financial activity. Moreover, non-profit organisations are not obliged to regulate their financial activity.
The report also found that “there is no mechanism to prevent the illicit use of the judicial system to commit illegal activities.”
Chile was also criticized for its failure to provide statistics about money laundering in the country. Currently, data regarding documented cases of money laundering in Chile is inconsistently presented and not widely available, according to Gafisud.
Several of Gafisud’s requirements focused on money laundering as a way to fund terrorism. Chile was criticised for not responding to UN resolutions on this issue, and also for its lack of mechanisms to prevent non-profit organisations from being used as a front to fund terrorism.
Mauricio Fernández of the Money Laundering Unit at the Public Prosecutor’s Office said the government needs to clarify laws regarding money laundering, so that it is easier for the police to make arrests.
Property confiscated as a result of money laundering in Chile in 2004 exceeded US$8 million, according to an international report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (ST, April 1, 2004).
SOURCE: EL MERCURIO
By Cate Setterfield (editor@santiagotimes.cl)
http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=12859&topic_id=15
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment