Global Effort Needed to Combat Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing

A global effort is required to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing, as recent international experience has shown that detection of these activities cannot be left solely to private enterprise and financial institutions.

The Need for a Proactive Approach

The Samoa AML/CTF National Policy emphasizes the need for a proactive approach by all agencies involved in the Task Force. While financial institutions play a crucial role in detecting and reporting suspicious transactions, they are not equipped to tackle this complex issue alone.

Detection and Reporting of Suspicious Transactions

Financial institutions fail to detect or report money laundering, with some even engaging in the practice themselves.
Agencies of the Task Force will train their staff to understand money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing and provide assistance to entities they regulate or engage with to detect these activities.

The Task Force agencies will actively search their own data holdings for indicators of money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
They will either act on them unilaterally or share the information with other agencies to facilitate disruption, deterrence, and prevention.

Cooperative Approach

The fight against profit-driven crime requires a cooperative approach from agencies with different powers, information, and skills. The Task Force member agencies will share information and personnel freely in both formal and informal arrangements.

Focus on Facilitators

In terms of financially motivated crime, it is more cost-effective to change the behavior of facilitators of money laundering than it is to change the behavior of every predicate offender or would-be offender.
AML/CTF resources in Samoa will be applied in a manner that has the greatest possible impact.

High-Risk Areas

Samoa will conduct regular assessments of ML/TF/PF risks, but resources will also be applied to known money laundering activities before moving on to lower-order risks. This approach ensures that high-risk areas are prioritized and that resources are used effectively to combat these complex issues.

Conclusion

By working together and applying a cooperative approach, Samoa is committed to combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing and ensuring the stability of its financial system.