INTERVENTION BY MR. BJØRN S. AAMO, PRESIDENT OF THE FATF
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON THE EVALUATION OF ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING MEASURES AND THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM (MONEYVAL)
Strasbourg, France, 3 December 2012
Secretary-General of the Council of Europe,
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ,
Chairman of MONEYVAL,
Former MONEYVAL Chairmen
Executive Secretary of MONEYVAL,
Distinguished delegates and colleagues,
I am very honoured to be here in Strasbourg today to address the 40th Plenary Meeting of MONEYVAL and to be part of the celebration of its 15 years of existence.
I believe that it is important for the FATF President to see first-hand the work that you and other regional bodies are doing in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. A little later this morning, I will have the chance to outline some of key points of our programme for this year. For right now however, I would like to focus on the essential role that MONEYVAL plays in the global AML/CFT network.
THE MONEYVAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE GLOBAL AML/CFT NETWORK
The role played by FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs), such as MONEYVAL, in bringing about effective implementation of the FATF standards is absolutely essential to our common effort of combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Some of the contributions from MONEYVAL include:
- The MONEYVAL mutual evaluation process and the overall high quality of MONEYVAL mutual evaluation reports have been crucial in helping to ensure consistent and accurate interpretation of the FATF standards in the European region, and they have also been an example for others.
- FATF experts have always been encouraged to take an active role in the MONEYVAL mutual evaluation process. MONEYVAL experts have also had the opportunity to participate in FATF evaluations. This exchange of expertise contributes to the quality of evaluations and thus helps reinforce implementation of the FATF Recommendations regionally and globally.
- MONEYVAL has collectively and through individual member delegations actively participated in FATF deliberations on AML/CFT matters. This includes most recently the work on revising the FATF Recommendations just completed this year, as well as participation in other initiatives such as typologies.
- Mutual evaluations are not truly effective as a process unless they are accompanied by thorough and timely follow-up. MONEYVAL has developed its follow-up and compliance enhancing procedures with this in mind. Indeed, MONEYVAL is currently working to complete its “fourth” round of evaluations with the specific aim of ensuring action is taken to remedy previously identified shortcomings. In my view, this experience is very relevant to the FATF and the other FSRBs as processes for the next round evaluations are developed.
- Although MONEYVAL was first created with the aim of evaluating compliance with the FATF standards by Council of Europe members, I am very pleased to see that MONEYVAL’s terms of reference (and later its statute) have broadened over time. This has provided the possibility for evaluating other jurisdictions that had previously been excluded from the global network, such as Israel, the Holy See / Vatican City State and, according to a Council of Europe Committee of Ministers decision in October, the UK Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. These additions also reinforce the global AML/CFT network.
- Finally, both this year and next year we should see an even more visible demonstration of the close co-operation between MONEYVAL and the FATF. As you know, the current MONEYVAL Chairman Vladimir NECHAEV became FATF Vice-President under the Norwegian Presidency this past July and is going to assume the FATF Presidency starting from July 2013. I’ve already had the pleasure of working with Vladimir for some months now, and I believe that he brings a great deal to the FATF – and to the global network – not at least due to his MONEYVAL experience.
The work and experience of MONEYVAL have helped to strengthen the global AML/CFT network. MONEYVAL, through its hard work, has had an influence on how we as the global network ensure implementation of these standards by our member countries. In my view, the global AML/CFT network would not have been where it is today if it were not for this contribution. I can only commend MONEYVAL for what it has achieved over the past 15 years and look forward to its continued success in the coming years as part of the global network.
Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to addressing you later today with highlights of the programme of work for the current FATF Presidency.
Bjørn S. Aamo
FATF President
3 December 2012
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