• Policy frameworks on checking terror financing will be one of the issues to be taken at the Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering meet, in which representatives of 41 countries, including India, are expected to participate in Colombo.

• At the meeting, the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) initiatives on curbing money laundering and terror funding in different parts of the world will also be discussed. Among the participating member countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Maldives, United States, Australia, Canada, China and Pakistan.

Major Concerns

• Held in the backdrop of a spurt in terrorist activities, would also be attended by representatives of the Philippines, where security forces are currently engaged in a fierce battle with Islamic State-linked militants.

• Indian agencies have taken strong measures and registered several terror financing cases in the recent past.

• Following allegations of its failure in controlling the funding of terror outfits, the International Cooperation Review Group of FATF had requested the APG to furnish a follow-up report on Pakistan.

About APG:

• The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) is an autonomous and collaborative international organisation founded in 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand consisting of 41 members and a number of international and regional observers. 

• Some of the key international organisations who participate with, and support, the efforts of the APG in the region include the Financial Action Task Force, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, OECD, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Asian Development Bank and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

Source:TH