
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990                   TAG: 9004200775
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

DRUG-MONEY LAUNDERING TARGETED BY TASK FORCE

An international task force is recommending a worldwide plan to uncover billions of dollars being hidden by narcotics dealers through intricate money-laundering transactions.

A major element of the plan, according to Deputy Treasury Secretary John Robson, is a requirement that financial institutions report questionable dealings by their customers.

"Specifically, the task force recommends that, as in the United States, financial institutions must be able to report suspicious transactions to law enforcement, in good faith, free from fear of liability under secrecy laws," Robson said at a news conference Thursday.

"Suspicious transaction reporting has proven to be very valuable to U.S. law enforcement," he added.

The 40 "action recommendations" were adopted by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering on Feb. 7 in Paris and announced Thursday by the participating nations. Robson headed the U.S. delegation on the panel.

The task force was established following last summer's economic summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Paris to assess current anti-money-laundering efforts and "to consider additional preventive efforts in this field."

In addition to the G-7 nations of Britain, Canada, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, task force members included Austria, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland and the European Community.

President Bush and other leaders of the G-7 nations will consider the recommendations at their July economic summit in Houston, Robson said. Many of the recommendations will require government approval elsewhere, but most already conform with U.S. laws, he added.

In addition to the reporting requirement, the task force recommendations include requirements that financial institutions adopt procedures to identify their customers and to maintain adequate records about customers and their transactions.

"With money-laundering cases being investigated months and even years after transactions take place, adequate recordkeeping is essential," Robson said.

"At the same time," he added, "the recommendations reflect a recognition that law enforcement objectives need to be balanced with burdens on the financial system."

He contended the recommendations would not transform financial institutions into policemen.

by CNB