Committee examines urgent issues in anti-money laundering
Committee examines urgent issues in anti-money laundering
The National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism met yesterday to consider urgent issues in relation to anti-money laundering efforts and combating the financing of terrorism.
The initial meeting on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Bounpone Bouttanavong, who is in charge of the macro-economic and service sectors.
Dr Bounpone stated that Laos considers anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism as a critical task and noted that the country has taken part in the battle against financial crimes over recent years.
In 2007, Laos became a member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG).
The government also gave the green light for the Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL) to establish an anti-money laundering intelligence unit.
In addition, the government issued juristic acts on anti- money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, for example Article 64 of the Criminal Law regarding money laundering in 2005 and the decree on anti-money laundering in 2006.
In 2010, Laos was evaluated by APG relying on recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, with the report adopted in July 2011, the bank said.
The bank cited that during the implementation of anti-money laundering efforts over the past years, the government as well as BOL have strived to implement the recommendations of international organisations and have achieved some notable outcomes.
For example, National Assembly resolution No.08 approved the Law on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism in July 2014.
Then in February this year the law was promulgated by the President of Laos via decree No.012.
On top of these legislative efforts the intelligence unit for anti-money laundering will continue to fully implement recommendations made by international organiastions in a timely manner.
The Bank of the Lao PDR began drafting this law in 2011 by setting up a steering committee in charge of the process.
Committee members from line ministries have since adopted the role of the anti-money laundering intelligence organisation and its action plan for 2015.
