Two laws on laundering to be rushed

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Two laws on laundering to be rushed

The Nation February 20, 2012

The Pheu Thai Party will rush through two laws to boost efficiency in fighting money-laundering after Thailand was blacklisted by an intergovernmental organisation.

Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said yesterday that one bill concerns terrorism financing and the other money-laundering. The bills had lapsed during the previous government.

Pheu Thai MPs would meet tomorrow to endorse the two draft bills before they are sent to the Cabinet for approval, he said.

The move would help restore the confidence of the international community in Thailand, he said, adding that the government was not ignoring the issue.

Last week, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a statement claiming Thailand was one of 15 countries that had begun taking steps to combat terrorist financing and money-laundering but had yet to make sufficient progress in addressing the deficiencies in their regulations.

The FATF identified Thailand as uncooperative in the global efforts to combat money-laundering and terrorism financing.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, Democrat Party leader and opposition leader, said the government and Parliament would have to accelerate passage of laws and directives to stamp out money-laundering and terrorism financing. The new laws must upgrade Thai standards to the international level, he said.

Thailand would be removed from the FATF list if the government hurried to enact the legislation.

"During the past few years, I saw restrictions on the process and the organisation admitted that the government aimed to address the issue. The organisation also talked about the delay to the implementation of the operating plan," he said.

The FATF announced the blacklisting of Thailand only days after bombs went off in Bangkok and explosive devices linked to terrorism were discovered.

Abhisit said the government would also have to speedily address the reports about terrorism in Thailand.

The FATF would like to see Thailand take action against money-laundering that was related to terrorism, he said.