Forwarded From: Nicholas Charles Brawn <ncb05t_private> Cyber-cash making money laundering easier-expert 29-10-1998 05:47 WELLINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Increased use of new technologies such as Internet banking and smart cards is making money laundering easier, the head of an international policing unit said in New Zealand on Thursday. "It's harder to regulate, the laws are a little behind the play in terms of technology and audit trails are far less, so that's going to be a big problem in the not too distant future," said Rick McDonell of the Sydney-based Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering Secretariat. McDonell said vastly increased volumes of electronic commerce have made it easier for money launderers, allowing them to avoid the risks of being reported by suspicious bank tellers or bank officers. McDonell was in New Zealand meeting with law enforcement, banking and regulatory experts from around the Asia-Pacific to discuss ways of combating money laundering, particularly in offshore financial centres. The International Monetary Fund has estimated between two and five percent of global GDP is laundered around the world, which was a staggering figure, said McDonell. A tightening of regulations around the world had led organised crime groups to look towards offshore centres in the South Pacific to launder their money. Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Niue and Nauru were all at risk, said McDonell. Timothy Lemay, an adviser on money laundering for the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, said many smaller countries had requested assistance for training and legislating against money laundering. The workshop also highlighted a need to establish further standard legal ways to seize and share money between affected countries. "With global trade liberalisation, criminals can move money easily over borders and around the world very quickly but the borders are still there for law enforcement," said Lemay. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomot_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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