Sally Ramage - United Kingdom - An International Perspective of ...

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Sally Ramage - United Kingdom - An International Perspective of ...

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• Publié par: uhezyxuk
• Nombre de lectures: 33
• Langue: Français

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The FATF has compiled a list of countries which are not co-operative (Act’s) and it publishes and maintains this list in its detailed and public annual report. As at June 2001, the list of non co-operative countries or territories consisted of the following:

"One method of money laundering through the Internet would be to establish a company offering services   payable through the Internet. The launderer then ‘uses’ those services and charges for them using credit or debit cards tied to accounts under his control (located perhaps in an offshore area) which contain criminal proceeds. The launderer’s company then invoices the credit card company, which, in turn, forwards the payments for the service rendered. The launderer’s company may then justify these income payments for a service rendered. In this example, the launderer actually controls only the invoiced accounts and the company offering services through the Internet. The credit card company, the Internet service provider, the Internet invoicing service and even the bank from which the illegal proceeds begin this process would likely have no reason to believe there was anything suspicious about this activity, since they each only see one part of it"

If bribery is outlawed, companies worldwide will look for other means of exercising influence, whether legitimate or controversial.

The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering

Bribery and Corruption as serious fraud

Throughout the world, bribery and corruption is classed as serious fraud, so much so, that there are many international conventions on Bribery and Corruption. Examples of bribery and corruption are active bribery, passive bribery, embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds, trading in influence, illicit enrichment and money laundering.

In its Annual Report for 2000, the FATF explained a number of methods of money laundering, one of which I quote here:

The FATF initiative has spawned a range of regional organisations pursuing a similar aim. The oldest established is the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in 1990. There is the Asian/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), a South American Financial Action Task Force, the Council of Europe, the Economic Community of West African States and the Gulf Co- operation Council.

This is an intergovernmental body with the sole purpose of combating money laundering. Money laundering has been agreed as the processing of criminal proceeds in order to disguise their illegal origin. To stop money laundering is directly to stop future criminal activity from affecting legitimate economic activities. The one drawback to this action is the real cost of combating money laundering. It is estimated that to combat money laundering in the EU alone would cost £51 million in the implementation of tighter rules. 1

There are 29 countries who are members of the FATF, including France, Germany, UK and the US. The FATF has 40 recommendations to combat money laundering, including confiscation orders and is especially, but not solely, targeted to banks in relation to customers identity. These tie in with the European Basle Committee on Banking Supervision which produced its Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision in 1997.

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  Sally Ramage United Kingdom: An International Perspective of Fraud Including Bribery and Corruption - Part 1 20 September 2005 Article by Sally Ramage  

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UK Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

The Organisation For Economic Co_Operation And Development (OECD) Convention to Combat Corruption 1997

Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act contains definitions of money laundering. A person commits an offence by concealing, disguising, converting or transferring criminal property. Criminal property is that which is had from criminal conduct or that which represents the benefit from criminal conduct and the offender knows or suspects that it constitutes or represents such a benefit. No offence is committed if the person concerned makes a timely disclosure of the facts to the police, a customs officer or a person nominated for the purpose by the person’s employer. It is also an offence to acquire, use or have possession of criminal property. The defence against this is that such a person paid for the property with adequate consideration. If a disclosure has been made to the authorities, it is an offence to tip-off or gives information, which might prejudice an investigation. In the case of C v S 2 money laundering reports to the Economic Crimes Unit of the National Criminal, a bank had made a series of Intelligence Service. When in later civil proceedings an order was made that the bank must disclose certain papers and the bank feared that compliance might amount to tipping off, the NCIS refused to give n assurance that it would not prosecute for that offence and instead sought an order for the disclosure to it of the same papers. The Court of Appeal decided that where such conflicting pressures existed, as in the case on the bank, the party required to disclose should seek a ruling from the NCIS as to what material they would clear for disclosure and that the court should be asked for directions should this fail.

The UN Convention is aimed at the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. This UN Convention against corruption was approved by the General Assembly in late 2003. Its aims are that states should criminalize bribery of public officials, prevent corrupt practices, set up agencies to prevent and prosecute corruption and have codes of practice for public officials and for the private sector.

The core concept of the OECD Convention is that state parties should outlaw, in their domestic laws, acts of bribery committed by their nationals or within their territory that are directed towards the officials of another state.

The Convention provides a broad definition of "public official" which covers all persons exercising a public function, whether elected or appointed. For example, it includes a company officer of a public enterprise, the head of a government – designated monopoly, and senior officers of any company in which the government exercises a dominant influence through majority ownership or control.

The Convention is an indication of the common will of the international community to combat international corruption. The Convention requires the Parties to outlaw, in their domestic laws, acts of bribery committed by their nationals or committed in their territory and directed towards the public officials of another foreign state. The Convention only applies to active bribery and corruption, not to offers or promises of bribes. Bribery includes both offers of money and other types of advantages but it does not matter if the bribe was made directly or through intermediaries or whether the bribe was for the ultimate benefit of the foreign official or a third party. It is also immaterial if the person making the bribe receives anything in exchange. Nor does it matter what form any benefit takes such as a business contract or some other form of improper advantage such as an operating licence.

In 2001, four other countries were removed from the list – the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein and Panama.

Cook Islands, Dominica, Egypt, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Nauru, Nigeria, Niue, Philippines, Russia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent, The Grenadines.

The FATF puts countries on this list if they fail through inadequate or no supervision of offshore banking, if they have strict bank secrecy laws, if they have no suspicious transaction reporting system, if they have no requirement that the effective owners of companies be identified and an absence of mutual legal assistance provision.

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