Apr 21 2008 Trond Vagen in Hong Kong
The Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering will launch a mutual evaluation of Vietnam's anti-money laundering efforts in November and plans to complete its assessment by the end of the year. Tran Minh Tuan, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said that the APGML would work directly with government agencies and ministries on developing anti-money laundering policies and laws. It will also work with financial institutions to assess the effectiveness of measures to prevent criminal financial transactions.
The SBV official said that a positive assessment and rating by the APGML would send foreign investors an encouraging message about Vietnam's investment environment, its transparent financial transactions and its healthy financial system.
The APGML has not previously evaluated Vietnam. The group acts as the regional anti-money laundering coordinating body in the region and is responsible for conducting periodic evaluations to ensure that members meet the standards issued by the Financial Action Task Force.
Vietnam, a relatively new member of the APGML, enacted its anti-money laundering law in June 2005.
