Back MONEYVAL Committee calls on member states to improve transparency of company ownership

Moneyval
MONEYVAL Committee calls on member states to improve transparency of company ownership

In its annual report, published today, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body (MONEYVAL) called on its member states and territories to step up their efforts to ensure that companies always know who owns and controls them and that this information is readily accessible to law enforcement. This should result in more success in prosecuting those that launder proceeds on behalf of organised crime and in achieving deterrent confiscation orders.

MONEYVAL has encouraged its 33 members to address these risks and to report back on further actions undertaken, following the commitment announced in June 2013 by the G8 member states to respect core transparency principles based on the revised Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards to prevent the misuse of companies and trusts for money laundering and tax evasion.

“MONEYVAL states and territories are encouraged to follow the G8 lead, and to consider these issues carefully in the context of their own national risk assessments or in specific national action plans. Real progress here can only increase public confidence in our states’ capacities to detect and prosecute major criminals and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains”, said the Chair of MONEYVAL, Anton Bartolo.

The report highlights that one of the biggest problems worldwide in money laundering and confiscation enquiries is identifying who are the ultimate beneficial owners of companies with complex ownership structures into which criminal proceeds have been introduced. Many major investigations run into the ground because information on the real owners of companies is either inaccurate, unavailable or cannot be accessed in a timely way by law enforcement. (more...)

Strasbourg 28/05/2014
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page
Follow us

       

Facebook
@coe on Twitter