KATHMANDU, Nov 16: Financial stability, transparency, and sustainable development are not possible without controlling financial crimes, Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel said on Monday.
Addressing a five-day workshop organized by Ministry of Finance, Nepal Rastra Bank, Department of Money Laundering Investigation and Asia Pacific Group (APG) in Kathmandu, he said that such crimes are technologically advanced and may occur in any jurisdiction.
In recent years, flow of dirty money has fuelled terrorism activities across the globe. Criminals engage in financial crimes using complex and multilayered activities to escape and hide from legal action, he said, adding that such crimes challenge credibility and stability of both domestic and international financial system. “It also adversely impacts economy as a whole.”
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As many as 240 representatives from 44 jurisdictions are taking part in the APG Typology and Capacity Building workshop.
Minister Poudel also informed that Nepal has made comprehensive efforts for developing a functional anti-money laundering/Corruption and Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) regime over the past decade. “A number of laws and regulations have been enacted and AML/CFT National Strategy 2011-2016 has been developed and implemented. Likewise, Nepal has also ratified UN Convention Against Organized Crimes, Corruption and Terrorism Financing,” he added.
Nepal has also established specific department and enhancing of Financial Information Unit (FIU) under the central bank has contributed to some institutional arrangements toward effective combating financial crime, he added
Organized at a time of growing black-marketing of daily commodities due to supply obstruction in recent months, the workshop will brainstorm on various sectors of wildlife crime, terrorism and FIU issues. The representatives will also share challenges and experiences about their fight against the flow of dirty money.
Welcoming the delegates, Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari said consolidated effort was needed to fight against flow of dirty money. “We have to unite and fight against the flow of dirty money together,” he added.
