ORANJESTAD/THE HAGUE — In connection with the draft-report of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) about the money-laundering and financing of terrorism on Aruba, parliamentarian Johan Remkes (VVD) requested clarification through Chamber-questioning.
Remkes wants to know from State Secretary Ank Bijleveld-Schouten of Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations (CDA), and Minister of Finance Wouter Bos (PvdA) which measures they are planning to take to adjust the bad reputation of the Kingdom regarding this issue.
In addition, Remkes demands an explanation on the status of affairs regarding the assignment for the investigation on corruption and integrity of the government on Aruba. In this framework, the Lower Chamber-member also wonders what the administrators’ opinion is on the ‘described disastrous’ image of the situation regarding the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) on Aruba.
On June 22nd, Rudy Lampe (RED) forwarded an open letter to the State Secretary, in which he expressed his concern that Aruba is not complying with the regulations for combating laundering of the FATF, whereby Aruba could probably end up on the organization’s black list. In the Land Regulation, which was dealt with in the States of Aruba on June 22nd, the establishment of a supervisory organ for casinos – a so-called gaming control board was discussed. The Advisory Council had supposedly advised against such an establishment. "In spite of this advice, the government still presented this draft to the States. In view of the dictatorship of eleven in the States, which the government cannot control, this matter will seriously damage the international standing of the Kingdom of the Netherlands", said Lampe, where he refers to Dutch Chairmanship of the FATF per July 1st. "If the establishment of aforementioned institute is materialized, and falls in the hands of friends and family of the current government, e.g. a former minister who was recently convicted of violating the Governments Accounts Act, the damage for the Netherlands will be even worse", Lampe wrote in his open letter of June 22nd.
As per July 1st, the Netherlands is the Chairman of the FATF for the period of one year. The FATF is an intergovernmental taskforce in which worldwide agreements are made on the combating of laundering of criminal monies and terrorism financing. These agreements have been laid down in a standard, which the countries are considered to comply with. The FATF controls that compliance by subjecting these countries to regular examinations. In case countries do not comply with the agreements, the taskforce could call them to order, and if necessary, the FATF could take measures to guarantee the integrity of the financial sector.
News article taken from www.amigoe.com