Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : Zia Sun(zsun) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ST Trader who wrote (6989)	3/14/2000 3:58:00 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 10354

Corruption, banks protect Asia's dirty money By Michael Perry SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Money laundering is on the rise in Asia and reasons cited are official corruption, strict bank secrecy laws, traditional ethnic underground banking networks and in some countries a lack of anti-laundering laws. A recent U.S. State Department report pinpointed China including Hong Kong and Macau as major money laundering centers and also named the Philippines, India and Indonesia. It said money laundering ``continues to grow' in Indonesia due to bank secrecy laws and its strategic location in Southeast Asia. ``It's difficult to estimate the amount of dirty money circulating through the financial system in Indonesia,' said Chairul Imam, director of the corruption division in the Indonesian attorney general's office. ``It is very hard for a law enforcement agency to trace the flow (of dirty money) because we have no set of laws against money laundering.' Money laundering in Indonesia focused on drugs, fraud and corruption, said the State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs 2000 money laundering report, released on the Internet on March 3. ``Indonesia's banks are not subject to adequate supervision or regulation,' it said, citing a 1999 Indonesian-commissioned report that found nearly $80 million secretly transferred out of Bank Bali went into the accounts of people linked to former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie's Golkar party. And Indonesia has no plans to introduce anti-laundering laws soon. ``I think it's not on our top priority. We have other more pressing problems,' said Imam. DIRTY MONEY BACKS TERRORISM, INSURGENTS Indian money laundering was estimated to be worth at least half as much as the legitimate economy and focused on drugs, people smuggling, corruption and fraud, said the report. ``Tax evasion and the financing of terrorist and insurgent groups, issues related to money laundering, are also of concern in India. Given India's population and emergence as a regional financial center money laundering is a growing concern.' The former director of India's Central Bureau of Investigation, Joginder Singh, estimated $10 billion of dirty money was laundered in India a year. An anti-money laundering bill now being considered in parliament describes the practice as a serious national threat. The law would ban possessing, transferring or concealing proceeds of crime and carry up to seven months' jail and a fine of up to $11,500. But analysts are not enthusiastic about its efficacy, especially when it comes to tackling drug money. ``Drug money laundering will be very difficult to detect and track even after the new law is put in place,' said Singh. Narcotics trafficking was the major source of money laundering in Hong Kong because its organized crime gangs dominated Southeast Asia's drugs trade, said the U.S. report. Other sources of dirty money were loan-sharking, gambling and financial crimes, it said. ``Foreign sources of criminal proceeds are likewise sent to Hong Kong for laundering and Hong Kong serves as a major transit point in international money laundering schemes.' The report said Hong Kong had drawn up a law in January to require money changers and remittance agents to identify customers and keep records for six years of transactions exceeding $2,500. But it said no enactment date had been set. The Hong Kong government said the new law would take effect in a few months and it had built up a ``robust' anti-laundering regime. It also cited a new bill that will raise the maximum jail term for a person dealing with the proceeds of drug trafficking from 14 to 20 years. ``Hong Kong is more advanced in measures that counter money laundering compared with a lot of other places in the Asia Pacific region,' the government said in a statement. SPIRALING CRIME FUELS CHINA'S DIRTY MONEY On the Chinese mainland spiraling crime, especially in drugs, racketeering, people smuggling and intellectual property counterfeiting, fuels money laundering, said the report. It said anonymous bank accounts, which China allows, aid laundering and official corruption protects laundering operations. It said state-owned funds had been transferred to Hong Kong and then reinvested in China as foreign capital. But the report said laundering in China was linked not only to crime but also fear of devaluation of the yuan, citing the recovery of $10 billion worth of illegally converted yuan. The report said organized crime groups in Macau laundered their proceeds through joint ventures and real estate purchases in China, cross-border cash transfers, front companies, casinos, currency exchanges and China's underground banking. The Philippines was rated a ``concern' by the report, with rising crime, pervasive corruption and no anti-money laundering laws making it ``vulnerable to money laundering.' ``The Philippines has experienced an increase in foreign organized crime activity from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Philippine drug lords are known to launder and invest their proceeds in Taiwan and Hong Kong,' it said. ``Insurgency groups operating in the Philippines fund their activities through narcotics and arms trafficking and engage in money laundering through alleged ties to organized crime.' An anti-racketeering bill that would make laundering illegal is pending in the Philippines congress but banks fear any changes to secrecy laws could case a flight of capital. ``Everyone should understand that it (bank secrecy act) is essential to preserving confidence in the privacy of deposit information, which is necessary to prevent capital flight,' said Deogracias Vistan, president of Solid Bank Corp. 11:14 03-14-00