Strengthening Anti-Money Laundering Efforts: Proposed Amendments to Recommendation 24

Transparency International Sri Lanka has proposed significant amendments to Recommendation 24 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on beneficial ownership transparency. The proposed changes aim to enhance the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and combating corruption efforts.

Key Proposals

The proposed amendments include:

Mandatory Register of Beneficial Owners

• All countries must create, maintain, and consistently update a register of beneficial owners.
• This ensures that accurate information on ownership is readily available for law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to access.

Public Access to Registers

• All countries must make their central beneficial ownership registers publicly available, preferably online.
• This promotes transparency and allows the public to scrutinize company ownership structures.

Free Access to Information

• All countries must make their central beneficial ownership registers available free of charge without barriers to access information.
• This ensures that anyone can access the information without incurring additional costs or facing obstacles.

Annual Updates and Reporting Requirements

• All countries must identify a competent authority to collect information on beneficial owners.
• All companies are required to share this information with the authority on an annual basis or when beneficial ownership changes.
• This ensures that accurate and up-to-date information is available for regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies.

Benefits of Proposed Amendments

The proposed amendments aim to:

Enhance Transparency and Accountability

• Ensure that foreign competent authorities have direct access to beneficial ownership information
• Enable obliged entities and other businesses to use the data for due diligence processes
• Allow government bodies, civil society, and journalists to scrutinize the data and detect conflicts of interest or wrongdoing

Prevent Corruption and Misuse of Public Property

• Make information publicly available to prevent misuse of public property and other forms of corruption.

Conclusion

By implementing these changes, the FATF can strengthen anti-money laundering and combating corruption efforts, promote transparency, and protect the public interest.