Related reports
by: Maria Berdnikova
Moscow February 1, 2002 (MT~Wire) Today the long awaited law on combating money laundering has gone into effect.
The bill titled "Federal Law No. 115-FZ, dated August 7, 2001, "On Combating the Legitimization (Laundering) of Crime Proceeds" was approved by Duma on July 13 last year by a more than 2 to 1 vote margin (244 deputies voting for, 107 against and one abstention.) (Duma passes money laundering bill, MT July 13, 2001) The bill is a product of the US pressure on Russia to come up with an anti-money laundering legislation that is more closely resembles Western standards. A series of financial scandals in the 1990s involving the alleged money laundering by Russians of billions of dollars through the Bank of New York implicated several leading figures. In preparation for joining the World Trade Organization, Russia has adopted a long-promised law, which brings Russia into compliance with standards of the recently ratified 1990 Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime.
The anti-money laundering law requires financial institutions to report "suspicious" transactions to an authorized government agency to be designated by the President. Suspicious transactions include certain cash transactions, transactions upon anonymous holders' accounts and accounts of a legal entity which was registered less than three months ago, and a long list of other financial operations.
"The new law is definitely a significant step in the right direction" said Emanuel Zeltser, a New York and Russian lawyer who helped draft portions of the bill. "However it does not state with particularity the procedures for disclosure of information by financial institutions and we must wait and see how vigorously it will be enforced" Zeltser said.
In February of 2000, amidst the scandal involving laundering of billions of "Russian dollars" through the Bank of New York, Lucy Edwards, BoNY's former senior vice president pled guilty laundering to a variety of federal charges, including money laundering and fraud. BoNY itself has not been charged with wrongdoing and is reported to be cooperating with ongoing investigations by the FBI and the Federal regulators.
Copyright ©
US-Russia Press Club, Inc.
All rights reserved