Financial Action Task Force On Money Laundering

Media Release
Hon Phil Goff
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

15 February 2000

FINANCIAL ACTION TASK FORCE ON MONEY LAUNDERING

New Zealand is working with other OECD countries to combat the serious global problem of money laundering, Foreign Minister Phil Goff said today.

He was commenting on today's report by the OECD-linked Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) which signals their latest initiative to combat money laundering.

Mr Goff said, "the estimates for the amount of money involved are staggering. The United Nations puts it at US$500 billion per annum in drug trafficking alone.

"FATF's members, which include New Zealand, have identified certain jurisdictions which may have practices and rules that do not effectively prevent money laundering.

"Those jurisdictions will be checked against 25 criteria agreed to by FATF members to assess whether individual countries or territories are vulnerable to being used as money laundering locations.

"The issue of financial crime and money laundering is a global one, but countries in South Pacific region with small administrations are often particularly vulnerable to the predations of criminal elements.

"At this stage the emphasis is on assisting vulnerable countries constructively. If, however, countries are not co-operative they risk being named and may face sanctions from the international community.

"New Zealand is active in combating fraud in the South Pacific region and is ready to assist countries in the region to enable them to combat money laundering and financial crime.

ENDS

The report can be read on www.oecd.org/fatf

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