KOCHI: The annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on money laundering which concluded here on Friday has come up with recommendations to member nations to deter money laundering and terror financing.The four-day meeting, which admitted Bhutan as the 41st member of the APG, subjected the mutual evaluation of six nations - Afghanistan, Lao PDR, Marshal Islands, Maldives, Nepal and Papua New Guinea.The APG which discussed an array of issues, including terror-funding and use of telemarketing for transnational crimes, prepared a whole range of country-specific recommendations, said APG co-chair and Union Secretary K Jose Cyriac.He was briefing the decisions of the APG annual meeting, along with Gordon Hook, APG executive secretary, Tony Negus, APG cochair and Commissioner Australian Federal Police and Arun Mathur, Director, Directorate of Enforcement.The APG, an international collaborative organisation, has a membership of 40 countries along with regional and international observers.The APG meeting reviewed the mutual evaluation progress reports of 30 members.Last year India underwent the mutual evaluation in which the country performed well and has been included in the team which makes policy decisions on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), they said.One of the key recommendations of the annual meeting of the APG was to form finance intelligence units, which will collect information regarding financial transactions and look into suspicious deals. India has already set up an FIU which has been functioning effectively.Another suggestion which came up during the annual meeting of the APG was that crime generated in connection with money transactions should also be brought under the purview of the FIU.It was suggested that information on such cases should be provided to the FIU which in turn will alert other enforcement agencies.“It will naturally enhance the value of the information regarding suspicious transaction of money,” they pointed out.Member states which do not comply with the regime will be asked to bring in amendments to their legal system and adopt international standards of security against money laundering and funding of terrorist activities.Repeated non-compliance to the international regime could lead to cancelling of their membership and black-listing.
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