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ICAEW, B20 task force publish recommendations to tackle money laundering
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The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), in collaboration with the B20 Integrity and Compliance Task Force, held a conference in Jakarta on Wednesday (28/09/2022).
Attended by experts from ICAEW, the Ministry of the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), Banking Compliance Director Communication Forum (FKDKP), EY Indonesia, and HM Revenue and Customs, the hybrid event presented actionable policy recommendations from the B20 task force to foster agility in countering money laundering and terrorism financing.
As a member of the task force, the ICAEW introduced key policy recommendations as well as signaled its support for Indonesia’s application for full membership in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“With countries recovering from the pandemic facing economic challenges and new technology presenting opportunities for criminal activities, the public, and private sectors must work hand in hand to put in place strong countermeasures against economic crimes. We have been persistent in providing guidance and resources to members and nations around the globe, as well as robust anti-money laundering supervision through a risk-based approach, and we will continue to do so,” ICAEW Managing Director International Mark Billington said in his opening remarks.
Sri Mulyani, the Minister of Finance, also delivered a speech virtually to assure Indonesia’s commitment to combat financial crimes and improve the prevention of illicit financing.
The government established the PPATK in 2002 as an independent financial intelligence unit to deter these crimes. Last year, the Ministry of Finance and PPATK signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the prevention and eradication of money laundering and terrorist financing and published a guideline for further collaboration, which includes sharing data and information.
“Other than the B20 Integrity and Compliance Task Force conference today, we hope to continue our discussion and effort with various stakeholders such as PPATK and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia,” Conny Siahaan, ICAEW Head of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post.
“We have been working very closely with two departments in the Ministry of Finance: the Financial Sector Policy Center, or Pusat Kebijakan Sektor Keuangan [PKSK], and also with the Financial Services Supervision Center, or Pusat Pembinaan Profesi Keuangan [PPPK]. One collaboration is that we jointly organized the International Conference on Sustainable Finance and Economy in November 2021 with the Ministry of Finance.
“We look forward to holding this initiative annually as a joint effort with the Ministry of Finance to provide insights on various sustainability-related topics, maximize opportunities and inspire key stakeholders in Indonesia and the region to accelerate their response to sustainability challenges,” she said.
Conny also stressed that collaborative efforts were necessary to eradicate financial crimes.
Meanwhile, B20 task force chair Haryanto T. Budiman introduced the four policy recommendations:
- Promote sustainable corporate governance to support ESG (environmental, social, and governance) initiatives;
- Foster collective action to alleviate the integrity risk;
- Develop agile countermeasures to combat money laundering or terrorist financing risk; and
- Strengthen governance to mitigate cybercrime risks and prevent their exacerbation.
Wednesday’s conference spotlighted the third recommendation on countering money laundering and terrorist financing.
Tuti Wahyuningsih, the PPATK’s International Cooperation Strategy Director, emphasized the need to foster agility in the measures to combat money laundering and other economic crimes. She added that the policy recommendations had strategic importance in growing awareness of preventive measures.
“[Adopting] these recommendations will be valuable to Indonesia in becoming a full member of the Financial Action Task Force money laundering [FATF], especially in encouraging cooperation between government agencies and reporting entities in the AML/CFT regime,” added Tuti.
The event also saw the premiere of ICAEW’s third movie, entitled “All Too Familiar.” The movie is expected to be distributed and used as a training film in the future. In a panel discussion that followed, David Hagreen of HM Revenue and Customs pointed out that it is quite common for money laundering to be seen as a white-collar crime, and this film tackles that view, with fallout such as slavery and human trafficking. The plot of the movie showed the consequences of several suspicious activities that were overlooked because of the lack of due diligence from the accountants.
“At the very core of what we, chartered accountants, do is problem-solving. We are a profession of problem-solvers who find solutions, and this is one of the biggest problems the world has ever faced. And we must work together, collaboratively with other professions, civil society, NGOs, and governments,” concluded Mark.
