Anti-money laundering measures: PM told to stop delaying action on AML bills
Speaker Subas Nembang has asked Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to either withdraw the two anti-money laundering bills from parliament or take the initiative to get them passed.
He drew the prime minister’s attention to the government’s failure to move the bill forward on the sidelines of the submission ceremony of the report by the State Restructuring Commission. Nembang has made similar requests to the prime minister four times.
Nepal faces high risk of being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering body, as parliament is yet to endorse the three bills that Nepal had promised to get approved by 2010.
Of the three bills, the Mutual Legal Assistance Bill and the Bill on Extradition Treaty have been registered at the parliamentary secretariat, while the bill on Organised Crimes has been stuck at the Cabinet—for a long time now. Although the first two bills were supposed to be tabled at parliament two weeks ago, it was postponed due to the obstruction of its proceedings. The bills on extradition and mutual legal assistance have been on the daily calendar of parliament for two weeks.
According to a source, the ruling Maoist party is not in favour of advancing the bill. “The prime minister has been repeatedly saying that the government will forward the bill, but the ruling party itself has been obstructing the effort,” said the source. “We have failed to pass the bill because of the government’s position.”
Maoist lawmaker Dev Gurung, who belongs to the hard-line camp, has been expressing serious reservations over the bills on extradition and mutual legal assistance. Gurung, according to the source, links the issue with national sovereignty and has been pressuring parliament officials not to include them in the business of parliament.
“The Maoists have misunderstood. They have not realised that the country will be blacklisted and will face sanctions if the bills are not endorsed,” said the source. “These bills are intended to control terrorist financing and are binding on UN member countries.”
In contrast to the ruling party, the opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has been positive about helping the government to pass the bill. FATF officials met NC chief whip Laxman Ghimire during a recent visit and asked him whether the endorsement of the bill had been delayed due to the opposition parties. Ghimire told them that the NC was in favour of passing the bill.
Nembang has also drawn the attention of finance secretary Krishna Hari Banskota regarding the delay. “Endorsement of these bills is the country’s responsibility. We should immediately formulate them and complete our responsibility,” Nembang said.
Meanwhile, at a recent meeting held in Australia to review Nepal’s progress in addressing its deficiencies, FATF officials warned that Nepal could be blacklisted if it fails to make tangible progress in endorsing the three acts. Nepali officials tried to convince FATF, citing Nepal’s political transition, but to no avail. “We had thought that we could convince them, but we could not do so this time,” said a senior government official who took part in the meeting. “Nepal faces high risk of being blacklisted if significant progress is not made within the next three months.”
Another participant in the meeting said FATF was likely to place Nepal in its dark-grey list—a high-risk zone—during the upcoming plenary of FATF to be held in Paris from Feb 13-17.
FATF, formed by the G20 countries, has called its member countries to apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from the ongoing and substantial money laundering and terrorist financing risks posed by blacklisted countries.
“Foreign banks may not accept the letters of credit issued by Nepali banks,” said a senior official at the Finance Ministry. “Nepal may have to go for cash transactions which are complicated. Even if foreign banks conduct transactions with Nepali banks, the business will be costly,” he added.
The Extradition Bill registered at the parliamentary secretariat has provisioned that Nepal should extradite international criminals to countries with which it has signed a extradition treaty or the country to which Nepal should extradite as per the international treaty and conventions. The Mutual Legal Assistance Bill has provisioned taking/giving legal assistance among countries. If these two bills are endorsed before the Paris plenary, Nepal can avoid being blacklisted.
Posted on: 2012-02-04 10:35
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