The Steering Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism held a discussion at Park Royal Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday morning and Committee Chairman Vice President U Myint Swe delivered a speech.

Present at the meeting were Steering Committee Vice Chairman Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, Union Minister for Office of the Union Government U Min Thu, Union Minister for Planning, Finance and Industry U Soe Win, Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun, Union Attorney-General U Tun Tun Oo, Central Bank of Myanmar Governor U Kyaw Kyaw Maung, Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman U Aung Kyi, Deputy Ministers Maj-Gen Aung Thu and Dr Sett Aung, CBM Deputy Governor U Soe Thein, Hluttaw representatives, Japanese Ambassador Mr Ichiro Maruyama, Chief of Myanmar Police Force, directors-general, diplomats from foreign embassies, representatives of UMFCCI, departmental officials and CSOs.

In his speech, the Vice President said this meeting is the Steering Committee’s first meeting which aims for financial sector stability, sustainable development and reducing inflation. He said successive Myanmar governments have straightforwardly dealt with cases of money laundering and financing of terrorism, which it and the world view as serious crimes. He said countering both issues is one of the main aims of the Myanmar Sustainable Development Programme (MSDP).

The Vice President said they have handled 21 cases under the 2002 Control of Illicit Income Law and has confiscated K 23,16638 billion in illicit income and possession into the national treasury. He said they have handled 92 cases under the 2014 Abolishing Money Laundering Law from 2014 to the present, of which 24 cases have been filed, 34 are ongoing and 10 cases settled, resulting in the confiscation of K6,031 million into the national treasury.

The Vice President said illegal drug trade and transnational crimes are attempts to launder illicit money and preventing them from entering Myanmar’s financial system and countering them requires the cooperation of all government departments, CSOs and the citizens. He said uncovering the illicit money, properties and benefits created from transnational crime and confiscating them into the national treasury is a top priority.

The Vice President said Myanmar has participated in international cooperation such as joining the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in 2006 and is endeavoring to implement 40 recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). He said they have signed MoUs with 15 nations to exchange news and information and for cooperation. He said APG member nations performed mutual evaluations in 2007-2008 and 2017-2018 and the second Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) was published in 2018.

In the ‘National Risk Assessment Report on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism’, the threat of money laundering is evident said the Vice President. He said this is why they must uncover cases of illegal drugs, bribery, corruption, illicit trading of wood and precious stones, and tax evasion.

The Vice President said action plans would involve issuing and amending laws, bylaws, regulations, directives, notifications and orders, setting AML/CFT policies, cooperating with domestic and foreign organizations, evaluating dangers of losses for each department, promoting international cooperation, and making preparations where necessary.

The Vice President concluded his speech by urging attendees to further the discussions for abolishing money laundering and countering financing of terrorism. He then took a documentary photo with all attendees.

Next, Working Committee Chairman Deputy Planning, Finance and Industry Minister Dr Sett Aung explained processes for countering money laundering and financing of terrorism, Police Brig-Gen Kyaw Win Thein explained cooperation with banks and organizations and legal prevention, and IMF’s Mr Neil Saker explained ‘The Consequences of Greylisting and Next Steps for Myanmar’.

Next, Deputy Minister Dr Sett Aung led the panel discussion on ‘Challenge for Improving AML/CFT in Myanmar’ and was joined by Police Brig-Gen Kyaw Win Thein, CBM Director-General Daw Than Than Swe, UMFCCI Joint-Secretary Daw Khine Khine Nwe, and U Myo Nyi Nyi from Myanmar Banks Association.

Union Minister U Soe Win then closed the meeting with a concluding speech.—MNA (Translated by Zaw Htet Oo)