RESOURCES

MONEY LAUNDERING CONTROL

Activities during 2001 

Links

Multilatel Treaties

National Legislations on Illegal Drugs, Money Laundering and Related Topics

Experts Group

Group of Experts to Control Money Laundering

The CICAD Group of Experts held their fourteenth meeting in Lima, Peru from July 11-13, 2001. In accordance with the Work Plan approved by CICAD at its twenty-eighth regular session held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from October 24-26, 2000 (CICAD/doc.1104/00 rev.2), the group discussed and made recommendations on the following matters: a) legal analysis of the money laundering offense; b) typology exercises and studies; and c) a study on Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). Moreover, the group was informed on money laundering typologies focusing on the Vladimiro Montesinos case.

[The Group of Experts identified various topics for the 2002 – 2003 Work Plan, published as CICAD/doc. 1124/01, and was informed of the offer by the delegation of Mexico to host the next meeting of the Group.]

The conclusions and recommendations of the Group of Experts meeting were approved by the Commission at its thirtieth regular session that was held in Caracas, Venezuela from November 12-15, 2001.

Project to Prevent Money Laundering in Financial Institutions

The course that was carried out for Colombia, Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina as part of the project co-financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), CICAD and the participating countries, was extended to Bolivia and Ecuador due to the efficient use of the funds provided by the IDB. In this way, beyond the 270 persons that were to receive training, 100 more were added.

The steps taken with the private sector to use the materials designed for the project in exchange for a fee to make the program sustainable were successful. CICAD and the IDB entered into an agreement with the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) by which a non-exclusive license was ceded to the BBVA in exchange for them to take the same steps for a course to be developed by them with the materials. Moreover, the BBVA, in collaboration with the Government of Brazil and under the supervision of CICAD, will design a course solely for Brazil to address its needs.  It is estimated that from this starting point, the training course developed by CICAD will reach more than fifty thousand staff members of the BBVA group in South America.

Another example of the success of this program in the private sector is that the Bank of Montevideo of Uruguay has asked permission from CICAD and the IDB to use the materials developed by CICAD to train all their staff, which is more than four thousand persons. This permission was granted in exchange for a commitment by the Bank of Montevideo to organize, at its own cost, a course for the staff of the Uruguayan State, and among others, the Bank of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, the Mortgage Bank of Uruguay, the Superintendency of Banks and the recently created Financial Intelligence and Analysis Unit. The director and staff members of the Financial Intelligence Units of Paraguay were especially invited to these courses. 

Combatting Money Laundering by the Judicial System

  On August 8, 2001, the Secretary General of the OAS, through CICAD, and the IDB entered into Technical Cooperation N°  ATN/SF- 7485- RG, “Combatting Money Laundering from the Judicial System” Program. In a 14-month time frame, the program will be executed in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Courses “Legal Cooperation/CICAD – National Drug Plan of Spain”

CICAD, in association with the Government of Spain through the National Drug Plan and Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, carried out the last two modules of the Course for Judges and Prosecutors in the “Seminar on Money Laundering and Investigative Techniques under the Framework for International Legal Cooperation CICAD-National Drug Plan of Spain.” This program concentrated on specific areas such as international legal cooperation; investigative techniques, cautionary measures; seizures; confiscations and the handover of assets. The course is intended to benefit judges and prosecutors, which now number 35, of the Spanish speaking countries of Central and South America so that they may participate as either instructors or students. 

Participation in Conferences and Seminars

CICAD participated actively in various international and regional conferences on money laundering.  A representative from the Anti-Money Laundering Unit made presentations to the meetings of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that was held from June 4 – 6 in the plenary sessions and in the Coordination Meeting of International Organizations and the FATF Ad Hoc Working Groups on South America and the Caribbean. Presentations were also made on CICAD’s activities to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) that was held in the Dominican Republic from October 9 – 11 and the South American Financial Action Task Force (GAFISUD), of which CICAD is an advisory member, in Montevideo, Uruguay and Santiago, Chile in June and December respectively. The Anti-Money Laundering Unit was also represented at the Eleventh Meeting of the Egmont Group that was held in The Hague, Netherlands in June of this year during which a presentation was made on the activities of the Unit on the issue of Financial Intelligence Units. 

The Unit participated in two training courses on examiners and mutual evaluations. One was carried out by the CFATF in Caracas, Venezuela in March and the other was carried out by the GAFISUD in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia in September.

CICAD made presentations in the courses organized by the aforementioned Bank of Montevideo, in the “Second Annual Latin-American Conference on Money Laundering” held by Global Alert Media in Mexico City on October 19 and 20, in the “Organized Crime and Money Laundering” seminar organized by the University of Lima in October 10 – 12 and in the “Pan-American Congress for the Control and Prevention of Money Laundering” that was held in Cartagena, Colombia from October 24 – 16.

Technical Assistance

Technical assistance was provided to Peru and Guatemala.

Money Laundering Activities 2002

For the year 2002, the Unit will convene a meeting of the Group of Experts, which will be held in Mexico City in the month of July.

CICAD- BID

Programa Hemisférico para la Prevención y el Control del Lavado de Activos en el Sistema
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