Introduction from the Chairman
It is a privilege to present my second Annual Report as chairman of MONEYVAL. The work of the Committee in 2014 is set out in detail in this Annual Report. I should say at the outset that the second plenary of the year (in September) was overshadowed by the atrocities committed in the Middle East by IS. MONEYVAL marked symbolically the appalling beheadings of hostages with a moment’s silence. We then went on, at the practical level, to examine how we could act more efectively on fnancing of terrorism issues that arise in the context of these new threats, as this is an essential part of our mandate. We immediately began a special monitoring procedure under which our states and territories certify to MONEYVAL that they have implemented the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions related to IS and that their fnancial institutions have been made aware of them. We followed up these results in December with a further call to all our states and territories to provide information on their proactivity in nominating persons for designation by the relevant United Nations Committee in New York, especially in respect of foreign fghters who leave home to join IS. We also required our countries to provide information to MONEYVAL on their capacities to ensure that ransom payments can be caught by their sanctioning regimes, as ransom payments are a signifcant income stream for this organisation. We are now also undertaking a one-of fact-fnding exercise of the implementation of the main FT standards to ensure that our jurisdictions have sufciently robust systems to freeze assets of those involved with IS, and to prosecute terrorist fnancing. The results of this exercise will be reviewed in 2015 and included in our next Annual Report. It was a particular honour for me to welcome to the MONEYVAL plenary in September H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, in her capacity as the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance. In 2014 MONEYVAL conducted its frst survey of the extent to which our states and territories take fnancial inclusion into account when developing their AML/CFT policies. We discussed the outcome of this work in the presence of Queen Máxima. Her Majesty’s inspiring remarks appear at appendix I to this report, together with the Executive Secretary’s response (appendix II). Subsequently we published a frst report “Strengthening Financial Integrity through Financial Inclusion”, which can be downloaded from our website. We shall return to this important issue in 2015 with a further survey and an analysis of how fnancial inclusion policies are impacting on AML/ CFT compliance. I am very grateful to Her Majesty for honouring us with her presence.
