TOKYO (Reuters) - A global financial crimes watchdog urged Japan on Monday to improve cooperation between different government agencies as part of efforts to combat money-laundering and the financing of terrorism.
In response to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report, Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced a three-year action plan that would include an anti-money laundering inter-agency task force and tighter monitoring of financial institutions.
The FATF report, the result of Japan’s 14-month peer review, noted that there was generally good inter-agency cooperation between Tokyo’s law enforcement bodies in the area of money-laundering.
But the FATF, an intergovernmental body that underscores the fight against money-laundering and terrorist financing around the world, suggested that Japan “to establish national anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing policies and activities”. designates a joint agency body responsible”.
Welcoming the FATF report, Finance Minister Taro Aso said that combating money-laundering was “essential to our strategy to make Japan an international financial center for the world”.
The FATF’s recommendations help the body’s more than 200 members worldwide chase money from criminals dealing in illegal drugs, human trafficking and other crimes. The FATF also works to prevent funding for weapons of mass destruction.