Draft of national strategy against money laundering endorsed

KATHMANDU: The government has formulated a five-year strategy to tackle money laundering. The draft of the 'National Strategy and Action Plan for Fiscal Investment on Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Activities' was approved, with modifications, at the first meeting of the Anti-Money Laundering Direction Committee on Wednesday. It will be put into action once it receives approval from the Council of Ministers.

The meeting took place at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and was chaired by Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun. Attendees included Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Padam Giri, Chief Secretary Baikuntha Aryal, Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari, Attorney General Dinmani Pokhrel, the Coordination Committee coordinator and Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Leela Gartaula, and the Directive Committee member secretary and Revenue Secretary Ram Prasad Ghimire.

The strategy is expected to be implemented by the forthcoming fiscal year 2024/25.

Mahesh Acharya, the Finance Ministry's joint secretary and Chief of the Economic Policy Analysis Division, stated that the strategy aims to maintain economic stability by protecting the nation's fiscal system and the entire economy from the threat of financial crime. It seeks to discourage corruption, revenue leakage, Hundi, cryptocurrency trading, drug smuggling, organised crime, domestic terrorism, fraud, counterfeit currency transactions, forgery, terrorist financing, among other things.

It's important to note that following an assessment of Nepal's money laundering status conducted by the Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering in collaboration with the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) in 2022, Nepal was advised to implement legal, policy, and structural reforms to improve its status in preventing money laundering. Nepal is a member of the APG.

In response to the recommendations of the FATF and the APG, Nepal has already revised the Asset (Money) Laundering Prevention Act. An APG delegation is scheduled to visit Nepal in a few months for the next round of evaluation. The FATF has warned that Nepal could be added to a grey list if it fails to improve its money laundering status.