Topics of Interest
Money Laundering
Global Partnership Vital against Money Laundering
Joseph Myers
Assistant Director, Office of International Programs,
Department of the Treasury
Cooperation among nations has become critical in the fight against the
international plague of money laundering, say officials involved with
the problem at the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Speaking on the U.S. Information Agency's WorldNet satellite television program to audiences in Santo Domingo, Lima and Ottawa, Joseph Myers, Treasury's Assistant Director for the Office of International Programs, said his agency seeks to exchange information with other countries through financial intelligence units that will attack the global money laundering problem, which is said to amount to at least $300,000 million per year.
Myers said his agency hopes that these units can be instrumental in attacking transnational crime. "These units can help banks and financial institutions determine on either side of a border whether they are seeing criminal activity involving the same people, and then they are in a much better position to justify the passing of [sensitive] information along to the investigative authorities."
"This is a new avenue for informal exchange" of information," said Myers. "But clearly there is no substitute for close personal cooperation between agencies" on fighting money laundering.
Program participants defined money laundering as the attempt to conceal criminal activity, such as drug trafficking, arms smuggling, fraud, or tax evasion, often with devastating economic, political and social consequences. In the United States alone, estimates of drug profits moving through the financial system have been as high as $100,000 million.
Myers' office encompasses what is called the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which has been designated by the government to formulate, oversee and implement policies to prevent and detect money laundering, serving as the link between the law enforcement, financial and regulatory communities in the United States.
Myers mentioned several global initiatives the United States is involved in to fight money laundering, among them the 20-nation Financial Action Task Force, which was formed in 1989 at the G-7 Economic Summit, and a sister organization called the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force. To strengthen the Hemisphere's effort, leaders of the 34 democracies in the Americas have also agreed to criminalize the laundering of the proceeds from drug trafficking and other serious crimes, promote laws that allow for the seizure and forfeiture of such proceeds, and take actions to promote an effective working relationship between financial regulatory authorities and the institutions they oversee.
Another guest on the program, Denise Rubin of the IRS, warned that in exchanging information among nations, "we have to be mindful that it must be within agreed-upon mechanisms," adding: "However, to help facilitate the easy flow of information, I feel it is very important to establish personal working relationships between countries." For that reason, she said, the IRS participates in many training efforts, such as one the U.S. government is helping to put together for officials of the Dominican Republic from June 29 through July 1, 1999. An IRS spokesman said the June 29th and June 30th segment of the conference will be geared to Dominican investigators and regulators, while the July 1st segment is geared to high-ranking officials and policy-makers. The spokesman said the conference will be hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, and co-hosted by the Dominican Republic's Superintendent of Banks.
Rubin, who is chief of the IRS' money laundering and international
section in its criminal investigations division, said many U.S.
agencies, including the IRS, have special agents posted overseas to
establish personal relationships. "I think that's where you facilitate
the efficient exchange of information, [with] relationships that are
built one-on-one.
Washington, D.C.
June 21, 1999