Spearheading the drive against money laundering and terror funding in the Asia-Pacific region, the Enforcement Directorate on Monday launched a week-long workshop for top Nepal government officials. The module aims at arming the neighbouring country with the knowhow on strengthening its legal framework in consonance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
The ED has organised the programme in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Department of Economic Affairs, after the Nepal government sought assistance in its capacity building exercise. It is learnt that among the participants are the top officials of the Nepal’s Financial Intelligence Unit and the anti-money laundering division.
As part of the workshop, representatives from the two countries would discuss ways and means to strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terror funding apparatus through introduction of necessary tools and laws, primarily based on the FATF guidelines. While the ED plans to organise similar workshops for the mid-level and subordinate functionaries of the Nepal government in near future, it is also exploring the possibility of assisting the other SAARC nations in bolstering the fight against money laundering and terror funding in the region.
The FATF is an inter-governmental body that sets “standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system”.
The next FATF compliance evaluation on Nepal is scheduled for 2015. About a month ago, the international body in its report recognised the country’s significant progress in improving its regime, noting that Nepal has “established the legal and regulatory framework to meet its commitments in its action plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF had identified in February 2010”.
The FATF had earlier this year asked the Nepal government to enact anti-money laundering laws and it is reported to have been complied with. India, which joined the FATF in 2010, was adjudged by the international body in June 2013 to have attained a satisfactory level of compliance with all of the core and key recommendations. Efforts are now under way to further sharpen and develop the necessary tools through reforms for an integrated action against money laundering and terror funding.
