UFA and IMF meet with Myanmar Ministers and Parliamentarians
On 19, 20 and 21 November 2013 a delegation from the UFA and from the IMF met jointly with the Union Minister of Home Affairs, HE Lt General Ko Ko, and Speaker of the Upper House of Parliament, HE Mr Khin Aung Myint, together with other senior Parliament Committee chairs and senior officials in government including the Attorney General, Dr Tun Shin, and Presidential Senior Legal Advisor, Mr U Sit Aye.
The IMF is providing technical assistance to Myanmar through the generous support of the government of Japan. Aspects of this assistance were discussed with officials during the visit. The UFA delegation discussed the importance of Myanmar taking significant steps in the coming months to improve Myanmar’s anti-money laundering and terrorism frameworks. Myanmar is undertaking wide sweeping reforms across all sectors of society including the financial sector as part of its democratisation process. Included in these reforms are three Bills currently in the policy development stages with the government, namely:
- an Anti-Money Laundering Bill,
- a Terrorism Bill and
- an Extradition Bill.
The enactment of these measures would address many concerns expressed by the UFA and the FATF in the context of the pace of Myanmar’s AML/CFT reforms.
Photo: Speaker of the Upper House of Parliament, HE Mr Khin Aung Myint, centre. On the left are the UFA and IMF delegations and on his right are committee members of the Upper House.
On 12 and 13 December 2013 the Asia-Pacific Regional Review Group (RRG) of the FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group met Nepali Ministers and officials in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The delegation, consisting of Elizabeth Liu of Hong Kong, China (RRG Co-Chair), Sabina Kook of the United States Treasury Department and Gordon Hook of the UFA Secretariat met with the Minister of Finance, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (central bank), Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and other senior officials to discuss the status of Nepal’s AML/CFT system and the ICRG process.
The visit was organised by Nepal’s Financial Information Unit and Nepal Rastra Bank.
