PACIFIC AML/CFT Assistance Programme
In 2017 the New Zealand government provided the UFA with NZD $3.6 million over five years from the New Zealand Aid Programme, managed under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). The funding was provided to engage staff and deliver targeted programmes to address illicit financial flows and improve implementation of AML/CFT standards across the Pacific region.
This arrangement is an acknowledgement by New Zealand, and the wider UFA membership which approved the New Zealand initiative, of the importance of Pacific island jurisdictions in the global fight against serious financial crime in the form of money laundering and terrorist financing and the importance of those jurisdicitions to implement the international FATF standards to ensure security and financial integrity, regionally and globally.
With that funding the UFA has established a "Pacific AML/CFT Capacity Development Programme" (PACD) and additional staff members in the Secretariat to deliver the objectives sought by New Zealand and the wider UFA membership.
PACD is a five-year programme from 2017-2022 to assist Pacific jurisdictions to achieve the following outcomes:
more compliant AML/CFT laws and regulations;
effective regulation and supervision of financial and non-financial institutions;
greater law enforcement and prosecutorial capacity to respond to financial crime and to recover the proceeds of crime.
To ensure effective coordination, the Pacific Technical Assistance team:
- actively supports regional organisations (such as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police, Oceania Customs Organisation, Asian Development Bank, and many more);
- undertakes regular information exchanges with donors and providers active in the Pacific;
- disseminates quarterly updates on activities; and
- maintains an up-to-date TA implementation plan for each UFA Pacific member.