06 October 2001
Text: O'Neill and G-7 Ministers on Blocking Terrorist Assets
(Urge all nations to follow new asset blocking plan) (1070)
All Group of Seven (G-7) member nations have found and frozen assets
linked to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill said in a statement following October 6 meetings of G-7
finance ministers and central bankers in Washington.
Appearing together at a press briefing following the meetings, the
finance ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United
Kingdom and the United States announced a multilateral plan to block
terrorist assets they urge all countries to follow.
In a joint statement the ministers and central bankers said they all
are increasing efforts to locate and freeze terrorists' assets and
will work to stimulate world economic growth by promoting free trade,
regulatory reform, strengthened capital markets and enhanced
educational opportunities.
They said they welcome a meeting October 29-30 of the Financial Action
Task Force in Washington. FATF is the world's leading anti-money
laundering authority. They also said they look forward to working more
with Russia whose investment climate is "improving." Russia's finance
minister participated in some of the day's meetings.
Following are the texts of prepared statements released after the
meeting by O'Neill and by the combined G-7 finance ministers and
central bankers:
(begin O'Neill statement)
STATEMENT BY TREASURY SECRETARY PAUL O'NEILL FOLLOWING THE MEETING OF
THE G-7 FINANCE MINISTERS IN WASHINGTON
It was a pleasure to host this extraordinary meeting of G-7 Finance
Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The attacks of September 11 were
not only an attack on the United States but also an attack on all
freedom-loving people. I was particularly heartened when my colleagues
suggested we stand here together today to show the world our unity of
purpose and our collective determination to disrupt the financing of
terrorism.
During our meeting today, we devised a joint action plan to coordinate
the efforts of our seven nations and to broaden our efforts to include
every nation in the world. Each G-7 nation has located and frozen
Taliban and bin Laden assets in accordance with UN Security Council
Resolutions 1267 and 1333. Each of us has committed to meeting the
Egmont group criteria to facilitate the sharing of information. And we
are pleased that the FATF [Financial Action Task Force] has agreed to
hold a special session here in Washington later this month to expand
its work to include combating terrorist financing.
Our Russian colleagues joined our discussion on how to combat the
financial underpinnings of terrorism, and I look forward to their
efforts in this crucial area. We are well on the way to building an
international coalition to disrupt terrorist fundraising.
We also discussed the steps each of us are taking to speed our path to
growth, and I was reminded of how valuable it is to exchange views on
the appropriate policy response to the current economic environment.
We in the United States are pursuing trade promotion authority and tax
policy changes to boost consumer spending, raise business investment
and rekindle economic growth. I remain confident that our economic
fundamentals are strong and the U.S. economy will excel in the long
run. Our actions, along with the steps being taken by our G-7
partners, will soon reinvigorate global growth.
(end O'Neill statement)
(begin G-7 finance ministers and central bankers statement)
Statement of G-7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
October 6, 2001
We met today to discuss international efforts to combat the financing
of terrorism and to address the impact of last month's terrorist
attacks on the global economy.
We stand united in our commitment to vigorously track down and
intercept the assets of terrorists and to pursue the individuals and
countries suspected of financing terrorists. We will implement UN
sanctions to block terrorist assets. We are encouraged by the number
of countries throughout the world that have already joined in
international action to wage a successful fight against the financing
of terrorism. We appreciate their efforts. We welcome the decision by
the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to hold an extraordinary
plenary session in Washington on October 29 and 30 to expand its
mandate to combat terrorist financing. We will work together to
implement our Action Plan which we release today.
Last month's terrorist attacks could delay the resumption of strong
growth in our economies. Decisive action has already been taken to
support a robust recovery. Notwithstanding remaining short-term
uncertainties, we are confident about our future prospects. We are
strongly committed to bringing forward needed measures to increase
economic growth and preserve the health of our financial markets. We
will continue to monitor exchange markets closely and cooperate as
appropriate.
Emerging market and developing economies have felt the effects of the
slowdown in our economies and could be affected by uncertainty
following last month's terrorist attacks. The prospects of the poorest
countries could be damaged, and we will take the necessary steps to
mitigate these impacts. Those countries adversely impacted by recent
developments should also create the conditions for strong economic
growth and sustained private capital flows, and the international
financial institutions stand ready to assist.
We also discussed the opportunities flowing from greater interactions
and linkages among the world's people. We agreed that greater global
economic integration brings large benefits. Key to raising living
standards and reducing poverty is increasing productivity growth and
raising the rate of potential growth. We will do so by promoting free
trade and regulatory reform, strengthened capital markets, and
enhanced educational opportunity. We thus reaffirm our support for the
launch of a new Round of trade negotiations at the upcoming WTO
Ministerial.
Greater economic integration brings with it new challenges, requiring
increased international cooperation to support sound governance and
strong institutions. We will continue to take steps to address
dislocations associated with economic adjustment and work to ensure
that all can benefit from integration, including through well-targeted
and well-coordinated development assistance, effective implementation
of the HIPC [Heavily Indebted Poor Countries] Initiative, and poverty
reduction strategies.
We welcome Russia's continued economic growth, progress on reform, and
ratification of new anti-money laundering legislation. We look forward
to additional progress in the financial sector and to an improved
investment climate to help sustain growth throughout Russia.
(end G-7 finance ministers and central bankers statement)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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