§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action his Department is taking to prevent money laundering, particularly with regard to profits from drug trafficking.
§ Mr. NelsonDomestically, the Treasury has introduced the Money Laundering Regulations 1993, which come into force on 1 April. This legislation requires all financial institutions to identify all customers opening business relations with them or conducting large transactions, to keep records of identification evidence and of transactions for at least five years to assist any subsequent money laundering investigations, to train staff in anti-money laundering policies and practices, to report suspicions of money laundering to the authorities and to co-operate with those authorities on request. Together with the Criminal Justice Act 1993, these regulations implement the EC money laundering directive in the United Kingdom.
Internationally, Treasury officials have been actively involved in the work of the financial action task force on money laundering—FATF—established by the 1989 98W economic summit. The FATF has developed a set of 40 recommendations designed to tackle all aspects of money laundering, and in particular the laundering of the proceeds of drug trafficking. The task force, to which 26 Governments now belong, is in the process of evaluating its own members to assess the effectiveness of their money laundering counter-measures. It has also developed a programme of international seminars and conferences with the aim of achieving the widest possible dissemination in all countries of its recommendations. The United Kingdom currently holds the presidency of the task force.
The Treasury is also working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to improve the money laundering legislation in the United Kingdom's dependent territories.