ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:95120410.LAR
DATE:12/04/95
TITLE:04-12-95 HEMISPHERIC MINISTERS AGREE ON STEPS AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING
TEXT:
TR120410 (Secretary Rubin chaired Buenos Aires meeting) (670)
By Jaime Lopez Recalde
USIA Special Correspondent
BUENOS AIRES -- Treasury ministers from the hemisphere's 34
democracies, wrapping up a process begun at last year's Summit of the
Americas, have agreed to adopt severe measures to combat money
laundering, including prison sentences and seizure of criminally
obtained assets.
The resolutions were adopted Dec. 2 by a ministerial conference
chaired by U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and hosted by his
Argentine counterpart, Economics Minister Domingo F. Cavallo. The
meeting was the last in a series of follow-up conferences called for
by the Miami summit.
Following two days of deliberations, a communique issued by the 34
governments agreed to take "all necessary measures" to fight money
laundering, including criminalizing the practice and identifying and
confiscating criminally obtained assets. The ministers also decided to
enact measures for the recording and/or reporting of large currency
transactions, to exchange evidence and information among their
countries, and to break down barriers that impede the exchange of such
information.
They agreed to expand the tools available to law enforcement agencies
to fight money laundering, including the creation of financial
intelligence units similar to the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network (FinCen), which supports the identification and
prosecution of money laundering and other financial crimes.
Offering the first reaction to the communique, Cavallo told the
closing session that his ministry was organizing a Financial
Intelligence Unit so that all Argentine banks would report
transactions of more than $10,000 in order to control the possible
laundering of money. "We signed a document with U.S. financial
authorities to exchange information," he added.
The ministers also agreed to implement treaties that facilitate the
extradition of criminals and "promote the creation of a national
forfeiture fund to administer forfeited property and authorize its use
or allocation to support the programs of law enforcement authorities,
social programs such as education, crime prevention and health-related
programs, or other purposes to be determined by each government."
In a separate news conference, Rubin warned that money laundering
presents a serious danger for the hemisphere's nascent democracies and
can act as a brake to genuine investment. "If a country is corrupted
by dirty money, the sources of clean money think twice before taking
it there," Rubin said, adding that "money laundering, in addition to
supporting organized crime, can undermine a democracy through the
bribery of officials. It's a lot of money and it moves with the speed
of light through the information systems."
President Clinton, in a message to the ministers, expressed his
satisfaction with the resolutions approved by the conference. "The
communique affirms the commitment made during the December 1994 Summit
of Americans Ministerial in Miami, Florida. During that conference,
with U.S. leadership, a Declaration of Principles, including a
strategy for combating the problem of organized crime and money
laundering, was adopted by the member nations. The communique
specifically directs the member nations to enact laws that make the
laundering of proceeds from drugs and other serious crimes unlawful."
"As I have said many times, America will fight the war on drugs and
crime on all fronts, both at home and abroad," he added.
Argentine Vice President Carlos Ruckauf also expressed his
government's commitment to the international struggle against crime.
In closing the conference, Rubin said, "Today, the nations of this
hemisphere have declared there can be no sanctuary for money
launderers. Today, the nations of this hemisphere are telling
organized crime that we will work together to make it harder for
criminals to legitimize the proceeds of crime."
At his news conference, Rubin presented the new $100 U.S. bill that
will enter circulation next month and gradually replace the older
currency. He said the old ones will not lose their worth, and the new
ones have a design that makes them very difficult to counterfeit.
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