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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT MARCH 1996:
FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERING
United States Department of State
Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS
The Heads of State of governments in the hemisphere recognized at their
1995 Summit of the Americas in Miami that money laundering constitutes a
serious challenge to the maintenance of law and order throughout the
hemisphere and may threaten the integrity, reliability, and stability of
governments, financial systems and commerce. Action Item Six of the
Summit's plan of action called for a working level conference on money
laundering to plan a ministerial level conference which would study and
agree on a hemispheric response to money laundering.
Treasury, State and Justice worked with the other nations of the
hemisphere to plan the Summit of the Americas Ministerial Conference on
Money Laundering, which was hosted by the Government of Argentina, in
Buenos Aires (Nov. 30-Dec.2). Following a six-country planning meeting
on March 15, 1995, the first working level conference was held on April
19-20, 1995 at Loy Henderson Auditorium, Department of State in
Washington, D.C. All 34 nations were invited to send legal, financial
and law enforcement experts to attend this conference, and most
countries were represented. The delegates began drafting a communique
on money laundering which the ministers could issue at the Ministerial
Conference. A second working level conference was held at the same
location in Washington on June 22-23, followed by a plenipotentiary
conference at the Interamerican Development Bank in Washington, D.C. on
November 20-21, where the communique was finalized.
Treasury, State and Justice coordinated the Ministerial Conference,
which was chaired by US Treasury Secretary Rubin and was attended by
representatives of 29 of the 34 countries of the hemisphere. The
Conference also afforded an opportunity for bilateral talks on money
laundering by senior US officials.
The Ministerial Conference demonstrated the commitment by governments in
the hemisphere to a unified hemispheric attack on money laundering. The
communique sets forth a hemispheric set of standards and principles to
promote transparency, oversight, and enforcement to stop money
laundering. In further fulfillment of the Summit mandate, the Ministers
agreed to take all necessary measures, including legislative and
administrative measures, in conformity with their national constitutions
and laws to combat money laundering.
The communique established a Declaration of Principles in which the
conferees agreed to make the laundering of proceeds a criminal offense.
The Ministers agreed on a Plan of Action outlining legal, regulatory and
enforcement actions to be taken against criminal enterprises. Moreover,
the participants agreed to institute an assessment of their progress in
implementation of the Plan of Action in cooperation with the OAS. The
conference also succeeded in creating an awareness that money laundering
is a problem that goes beyond drug trafficking and involves other kinds
of transnational crimes, and that money laundering is not only a law
enforcement issue but also a financial and economic issue, requiring a
coordinated interagency approach. When the principles and action
strategies in the communique have been implemented and enforced by each
government, there will be full compliance throughout the region with the
1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotics and
Other Psychotropic Substances and the Organization of American
States/InterAmerican Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD) Model
Regulations.
In adopting the communique, the Ministers made a commitment to:
- Enact laws to criminalize the laundering of proceeds of from
serious crimes. The laws would provide for the identification, seizure,
forfeiture, and equitable sharing between governments of such proceeds.
- Expand the tools available to police authorities in investigating
money laundering and financial crimes, including the consideration of
measures such as undercover police operations and judicially approved
electronic surveillance.
- Review laws and regulations pertaining to bank secrecy and assess
the extent to which these laws permit disclosure of financial
institutions records to competent authorities.
- Establish programs for reporting suspicious or unusual
transactions.
- Share information among countries for the investigation and
prosecution of money laundering crimes, and consider the direct exchange
of financial information between countries to Create a center (financial
information unit) to collect, analyze and share with competent
authorities all relevant information related to money laundering.
It is anticipated discussion of the implementation of the Communique
will be on the agenda of the 19th Regular Session of the OAS/CICAD
meeting which is scheduled for March 5-8, 1996. In addition, nations
agreed to submit to the Organization of American States, the
establishment of a working group to consider an Inter-American
convention to combat money laundering.
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