Nepal Ratifies UN Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism

Nepal on Friday ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, 1999, and the International Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, averting the risk of being blacklisted in the international financial market.

A parliament meeting held on Friday ratified the conventions tabled by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari by majority voting as the former rebel party, UCPN (Maoist), demanded that the convention be ratified only after clarifying the wordings ´organized crime´ mentioned in the convention.

The conventions were ratified with some reservations as demanded by ruling Maoists and the CPN-UML parties.

Friday marked the deadline given by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body overseeing anti-money laundering, to the government to ratify the conventions. The global body could have blacklisted the country had the parliament failed to ratify the conventions by Friday. International community would have also stopped carrying out financial transaction with Nepal in such a situation.

Nepal was required to ratify three UN conventions and four Acts related to anti-money laundering (AML) and controlling of terrorism financing by 2010 as per the commitments made in international forums. But the country repeatedly missed deadlines due to prolonged political transition.

Source: Asian Tribune

Choking charity route to terror financing

by Sandeep Dikshit

An international conference on countering terrorist financing of charity organisations quietly got under way here on Monday, with a strong representation from India and its neighbours.

Quarterbacked by the United States, the conference is being held against the backdrop of increasing international realisation that charities are being used for financing terrorist activities.

Officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives, apart from the U.S and India, are attending the event.

Hosted by the U.S. Embassy and the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, it aims at promoting government action to prevent terrorist outfits from exploiting humanitarian or religious charities as a way of concealing the illegal international movement of funds.

At the conference, technical experts, under the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, are exploring best practices and a wide range of options for cooperation to protect the charitable sector from this regional and global threat. The U.S. is aware of the need to strike the right balance. Charities complicit in terrorist groups must be shut down and adequate oversight is required to promote transparency, but the world must ensure safe alternative channels to provide charity in critical areas such as humanitarian services.

International financial flows came under scrutiny after the financial system in the 1990s provided for seamless movement of funds across the world.

Source: The Hindu

Sri Lanka FIU signed MOUs with FIUs of Philippines and Nepal

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with FIUs of Philippines and Nepal to share financial information to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of persons suspected of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The signing ceremony was held in Brisbane, Australia during the Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, said the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in a press release.

FIUs have been established in more than 130 countries as dedicated institutions to facilitate fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other unlawful activities.

In Sri Lanka the FIU was established in 2006 under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act (FTRA) No.6 of 2006 and now operates in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

It also said money launderers and terrorist financiers are most often internationally connected and operate across borders. Financial intelligence and authorities also need to be internationally organized to fight these activities. Therefore, there is a need for FIUs to co-operate with each other and to exchange information.

MOUs will facilitate greater co-operation and co-ordination among FIUs in the exchange of financial intelligence.

The FIU-Sri Lanka has already entered into MOUs with Malaysia, Afghanistan, South Korea and Indonesia. Arrangements are currently being made to sign similar MOUs with other FIUs in the region including India, Bangladesh and Japan.

Source: Isria