Expert urges Korea to step up fight against money laundering

The head of a new international educational institute on anti-money laundering urged Korea to upgrade its legal system to better combat illegal financial transactions and terrorism financing.

Kevin Stephenson, the inaugural director of the Training and Research Institute under the Financial Action Task Force, or FATF TREIN, slated for official launch in Busan on Tuesday, acknowledged the efforts the Korean government has made so far to root out illegal financial transactions, but asked for more to be done. 

“Korea has done a great job by joining FATF as a full member in 2009 and successfully completing the FATF presidency,” Stephenson said at a press conference Monday in Seoul. “However, since the FATF standards have been enhanced, Korea needs to upgrade its legal system and put more focus on effectiveness. Korea should focus on achieving more money laundering convictions and confiscating more proceeds of crime.”

As the first director of FATF TREIN, the former World Bank senior specialist pledged to make Busan a center for financial intelligence on global responses to money laundering, financing terrorism and mass destructive weapons.

The institute will support the capacity building of FATF and FATF-style regional body member countries in the field of anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing by providing training and research programs, workshops, seminars and other events, the director explained.

It will provide training on FATF international standards and mutual evaluations to personnel from FATF and regional body member countries, assessors and reviewers. It will also conduct research and coordinate knowledge sharing programs in the field of anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing.

“Law enforcement authorities must put more emphasis on money laundering investigations and prosecutors (should) place more emphasis on confiscating the proceeds of crime,” he added. “A well-thought-out utilization of financial intelligence is one characteristic of an effective anti-money laundering regime, and Korean authorities might consider conducting an assessment on how well financial intelligence is being used in combating money laundering and terrorism.”

“My plan is to create the FATF TREIN in a manner whereby it provides a platform to supplement the work of the global network of FATF members in the implementation of the FATF standards,” he said.

The former Chairman of the Financial Services Commission Shin Je-yoon, who chaired the FATF annual meetings in Busan in June, made the proposal of hosting the research institute in Korea and the proposal won consent from the 37 FTAF member countries.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)