Financial Crime World

Here is the article in Markdown format:

Japan Announces Measures to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Tokyo, Japan - In a bid to strengthen its efforts against money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF), the Japanese government has unveiled a series of measures aimed at preventing the misuse of legal persons and arrangements.

Plan Highlights

The plan, outlined in a joint statement by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the National Police Agency (NPA), focuses on several key areas:

  • Risk assessment: Conducting a comprehensive risk assessment on legal persons and arrangements to identify potential vulnerabilities and take steps to prevent them from being misused.
  • Transparency of beneficial ownership information:
    • All financial institutions (FIs) and designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) will be required to verify beneficial ownership information of existing customers by spring 2024.
    • Operationalizing a new system for commercial registries to store BO information and promoting its use through interagency coordination.
  • Access to BO information: Developing guidance on timely access to legal persons and trusts BO information for law enforcement agencies.
  • Investigation and prosecution: Enhancing ML investigation and prosecution, as well as TF investigation and prosecution.

Additional Measures

The government will also:

  • Increase the statutory sentence for ML and TF offenses.
  • Establish a task force to promote coordination among relevant authorities.
  • Clarify the scope of asset freezing measures under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA).
  • Streamline administrative procedures to implement asset freezing measures without delay.

Preventing Misuse of Non-Profit Organizations

The government will also take measures to prevent the misuse of non-profit organizations (NPOs), including:

  • Risk assessment and monitoring of NPO sectors being at risk of TF abuse.
  • Conducting outreach activities to educate NPOs on TF risks and good practices for maintaining the integrity of their activities.

Implementation Timeline

The government aims to implement these measures by 2022-2024.

Government Commitment

“We are committed to preventing the misuse of legal persons and arrangements and to combating ML and TF,” said a government spokesperson. “These measures will help us strengthen our efforts to protect the integrity of our financial system and to support global efforts to combat these threats.”