UNITED NATIONS
OFFICE FOR DRUG CONTROL AND CRIME PREVENTION
GLOBAL PROGRAMME
AGAINST
MONEY LAUNDERING
The Global Programme
against Money Laundering (GPML) is a research and technical assistance three-year
programme (1997-99) implemented by the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention
(ODCCP).
Its aim is to increase the
effectiveness of international action against money laundering through comprehensive
technical cooperation services offered to Governments.
The Programme encompasses three main areas of activity, each of which
provides various means for States and institutions in their efforts to effectively combat
the money laundering phenomenon.
I. Technical cooperation is the main pillar of the Programme,
encompassing activities of awareness-raising, institution building and training:
- Organization of national and regional awareness-raising seminars at technical
level for public officials, judicial officers, and financial sector representatives,
including elaboration of awareness-raising methods and materials. The purpose of
awareness-raising is to achieve proper recognition of the threat that money laundering
represents to national economies and to eliminate the misperception that anti-money
laundering measures could negatively impact foreign investment and trade liberalization.
- Assistance in building legal and institutional frameworks through legal and
drafting assistance; development of model instruments to establish appropriate
countermeasures in the law and financial sectors; delivery of country-tailored
recommendations for policy making and action; and transfer of know-how for the
establishment of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs).
- Provision of training to government agencies and financial institutions in the
form of workshops for finance, law enforcement and judicial professionals; training tools
tailored to the needs of specific professionals; and highly specialized courses in
financial investigations for judges, prosecutors and investigators.
II. The research and analysis pillar aims at offering States key
information to better understand the phenomenon of money laundering and to enable the
international community to elaborate more efficient countermeasure strategies.
The research/analysis pillar provides States
with access to documented and reliable information on the money laundering problem.
- Research is being conducted on key issues such as: bank secrecy, offshore centers
and money laundering, the impact of public policies on money laundering strategies of
criminal organizations, reversed onus of proof in confiscation matters, etc.
- Results of conducted research on money laundering and related issues will be
published, as well as periodic series of thematic and geopolitical working papers, which
will be made available for public information and governmental bodies.
- A newly created International Money Laundering Information Network (IMoLIN), an
Internet-based information network, offers to States and institutions a secure News Forum,
an electronic library, a database on laws and regulations (AMLID), and a calendar of
events in the anti-money laundering field. It can be accessed at https://www.imolin.org
(access to some services is restricted).
III. The recent commitment to support the establishment of financial
investigation services (FIS) will contribute to raising the overall effectiveness of law
enforcement measures.
Support to financial investigation services is the most recent dimension
of the Programme. This newly established service will open the following possibilities of
assistance to interested States:
- Advisory services in the conception and establishment of Financial Investigation
Services, study tours for newly established FIS managers, training of FIS staff on money
laundering investigations.
- Assistance in the management of the international aspect of investigations and
facilitation in establishing contacts with foreign services, as well as technical advice
with respect to the conduct of financial investigations.
The implementation of the Global Programme against Money Laundering is carried out in the
spirit of cooperation with other international, regional and national organizations and
institutions.
A number of activities are conducted in concert with other organizations
and initiatives, including banking associations, existing Financial Intelligence Units,
the Financial Action Task Force and its counterparts in Asia and the Caribbean, the
Commonwealth Secretariat, the Organization of American States /CICAD, Interpol, the World
Customs Organisation, the Council of Europe, EC Phare Programme, the IMF, the World Bank,
the Egmont Group and other institutions associated with the UN such as UNDP, ISPAC, ISISC.
To request assistance from
the United Nations Global Programme against Money Laundering,
please contact the United Nations at the following address:
Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention
Global Programme against Money Laundering
P.O. 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
telephone: (43-1) 260 60 43 13
facsimile: (43-1) 260 60 68 78
e-mail: jthony@undcp.un.or.at