Vietnam takes firm steps against money laundering

The Government has promulgated a National Action Plan on Anti-money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism for the period from August 2010-August 2011.

A decision to this effect was signed on August 12 by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Accordingly, the Steering Committee for Anti-money Laundering was assigned to instruct and coordinate relevant ministries, sectors and agencies to implement the plan. Relevant ministries, sectors and agencies were asked to study the practical plan and coordinate with the State Bank of Vietnam to carry out their tasks.

Under the national action plan, the Public Security Ministry will issue a circular to give instructions to relevant ministries and sectors to implement the Penal Code’s Article 251 on anti-money laundering.

The Finance Ministry will create a circular with instructions on the implementation of the Government’s Decree on Anti-money laundering in securities, insurance, rewarded games and entertainment.

The Justice Ministry will submit to jurisdiction levels the ratification of the convention on anti-transnational crimes.

The State Bank of Vietnam will check against limitations on regulations relating to high-risk customers and requirements of beneficiaries.

The Ministry of Information and Communications will disseminate information on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.

In August 2011, the Justice Ministry will review and make proposals for revising (if necessary) the Penal Code, to be in line with the Article 2 of the international convention on combating financing of terrorism and special recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Source: VOV News

VietNam: Money laundering not found in transactions

VietNamNet Bridge – The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s money-laundering watchdog said it has not found any signs of money laundering in banking transactions since its inception in March 2007.

At an anti-money laundering seminar in Hanoi on July 25, Pham Mai Phuong from the SBV’s anti-money laundering centre reported it had investigated 20 transactions suspected of laundering money but found no trace of the crime in those activities.

However, she alerted that the country would deal with the crime in a more sophisticated manner in the future as its World Trade Organisation membership provides a fertile ground for this activity.

Vietnam has adopted regulations mandating the fight against money laundering, notably Article 251 of the 1999 Penal Code, Article 19 of the 1997 Law on Credit Organisations and the Governmental decree on the combat of money laundering issued in 2005.

Advisor to the Vietnam-based UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ric Power, said Vietnamese law enforcement agencies have not yet interpreted the regulations into their operations and thus failed to perform effectively in the fight against the laundering of money.

While hailing the establishment of the SBV’s anti-money laundering centre, the UNODC official recommended the nationwide deployment of measures to combat money laundering in line with international standards.

He outlined the need to formulate an anti-money laundering system to aid the fight against corruption and crime, thus giving safeguards to international financial institutions in Vietnam and solidifying investors’ confidence on the country.

The UNODC has to date helped concerned Vietnamese agencies to improve their working capability and build the anti-money laundering system.

In November, experts of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) will come to Vietnam to enquire into and assess the country’s anti-money laundering activities.

According to the anti-money laundering decree issued by the Government in June, 2005, financial institutions are obligated to report to the SBV’s anti-money laundering centre of suspicious transactions, deals in cash or foreign currencies and gold worth more than 200 million VND and saving deposits of 500 million VND upward for investigations on money laundering.

Source: VNA

Sri Lanka: International Conference on Countering Terrorism

Sri Lanka: International Conference on Countering Terrorism draws international terrorism experts to Colombo

20th October 2007

The three-day International Conference on Countering Terrorism is now on in Colombo on the theme 'Terrorism: A Challenge to Democratically Elected Governments.' The Conference, brought together renowned terrorism experts, including from the academia and the media, from 23 countries including Australia, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, the United States and Vietnam. It was also widely attended by the Diplomatic Community .

Delivering the Inaugural Address, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, highlighted that "Sri Lanka had been a foot soldier in the battle against terrorism over a long period of time and notwithstanding some impediments and setbacks, can in several aspects count itself as having been a success story in the battle against terrorism." Sri Lanka's refusal to compromise or condone terrorism while constantly seeking to resolve the conflict through political means, to persuade other states to proscribe the LTTE, prevent money flows and apprehend those conniving with terrorists, has been significant. Successive governments and the people of Sri Lanka have also shown considerable resilience in the face of terror, whilst also ensuring that economic growth was not compromised. The Minister hoped that the deliberations of this Conference would, among other matters focus on the need for states to go beyond merely adopting conventions, to convert these into tangible action by developing enabling legislation and taking concrete action against those including terrorist front organizations operating from their soil. Noting that a bulk of maritime traffic passes through the Indian Ocean region and that in recent times many acts of terrorism had taken place in these waters, the Minister emphasized the urgent necessity to develop robust modalities to arrest the growing threat that faces Indian Ocean states from terrorists.

The former Director of the European Center for the Study of Conflicts in France, and one of the earliest writers in the field of terrorism, Dr. Gerard Chaliand traced the evolution of terrorism over the years. Referring to the LTTE, he said "the independence they ask cannot be granted and should not be granted, not only because no State is willing to accept such a blow to its sovereignity but also because, like the Shining Path or the Khmer Rouges, the LTTE under the leadership of V. Prabhakaran is a totalitarian movement, which has transformed its groups into a killing machine." He said "the most important thing about the LTTE is that it is a totalitarian movement fighting in a country which is democratic." He said the "LTTE has brutally eliminated all other parties or groups willing to represent the Tamils". "An absolutely intolerant sect, no peace seems possible with V. Prabhakaran as we have seen from the peace process of 2002-2005, which was but a tactical truce", Dr. Chaliand added.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Palitha Kohona delivering the vote-of-thanks repeated the unprecedented challenge Sri Lanka faces in combating terrorism and Sri Lanka. He said the world had focused on international terrorism only after 9/11 but terrorism had affected countries long before then. He emphasized that "the international rule of law against terrorism is being strong themed each year," adding that "there are 13 UN Conventions addressing different dimensions of the global terrorist threat and a comprehensive convention is being negotiated." The Foreign Secretary pointed out that "terrorism will never be eradicated solely by cooperation among law enforcement officials. It requires a concerted political effort and policy coordination among countries. Further it also requires an ability to understand and minimize the motivation and impetus that inspire terrorist acts."

Renowned Chairman of the French Anti-Terrorist Judges, Judge Jean Louis Bruguiere, who was the Guest of Honour of the Conference, and addressing the first panel of the day focused on the international responses to terrorism, traced the manner in which international efforts at responding to terrorism have evolved over the years, stating that if the fight against terrorism is an inescapable requirement, "we owe it to ourselves to reinforce our international cooperation at every level, notably by adopting multilateral or bilateral conventions in the field of judicial cooperation as well as extradition." He said the French Government considers "that an organization like the LTTE is a terrorist organization like any other and that its activities even in the area of logistics, have to be repressed with the same vigour as for terrorist networks operating on our [French] soil and threatening us directly" and that on this basis "that in April this year the French Government had dismantled a vast network of Tamil militants who actively supported the LTTE, notably at the financial level."

This session, which was chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Colombo, Prof. Amal Jayawardena,while the discussants were the Executive Director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Dr. Rifaat Hussain and the Senior Terrorism Prevention Officer of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Dr. Ms. Irka Kuleshnyk.

Addressing the panel on regional responses to terrorism, former Commander of the Indian Army, Gen. V. P. Malik emphasized the need to combat and defeat terrorism in all its manifestations. He said "terrorist activities anywhere will stop only when their fuel runs out." Gen. Malik who traced the important steps taken to counter terrorism in South Asia, emphasized the need for a regional strategy and cooperation, but essentially local operatives and doctrines.

Former Secretary General of SAARC, Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo, chaired this session, while the discussants comprised the Associate Research Fellow of the China Institute of International Studies, Prof. Zhang Lijun, the Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Vladimir Titokerni as well as the Pro-Chancellor and Director of the School of Science and Forensic Science, National Law University Rajastan, India, Prof. P. Chandra Sekharan.

The third thematic session focused on the domestic dimensions of terrorism where the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, who was the principal speaker, who joining the deliberations on a video link, highlighted the recent successes of the security forces in combating LTTE terrorism. He noted that within the year the Sri Lanka Navy destroyed eight merchant vessels. In order to defeat the LTTE, Dr. Gunaratna articulated the need for strengthening and building capacity in the intelligence field, with a high degree of professionalism, and also stressed the necessity for special forces and elite units that could target the leadership of the LTTE.

Former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Chandra Fernando chaired the discussion at which intervention were made by Deputy Solicitor General, Mr. Dappula de Livera and Prof. Karunaratne Hangawatte of the University of Nevada.

The final panel discussion of the day focused of the critical area of combating terrorist financing, where the Founder and CEO of World-Check, Mr. David Leppan spoke extensively on the manner in which terror groups collect funds and their illegal activities.

Researcher of the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism of the Macquarie University of Australia, Mr. Shanaka Jayasekera the co-speaker at this session noted that the LTTE's supply chain capability has been significantly disrupted, estimated at between 65% to 70%. This would result in the need for the LTTE to aggressively campaign for fund raising activities in the 12 top level resource mobilization countries. In order to maintain the advantage the Government has achieved, it is imperative that the fund-raising be curbed with international cooperation in the next few months. Therefore it is suggested that a contact group be established as a prelude to the commencement of a political process."

The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ms. Ranee Jayamaha chaired the sessions, at which the discussants were Mrs. Joan De Zilva Moonesinghe formerly of the Financial Investigation Unit and the Advisor of the Financial Investigation Unit of the Central Bank, Mr. Eric Stonecipher.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo

20 October 2007