On November 28th and 29th 2012 the Central Bank of Suriname, with support of the IMF, organised a seminar on money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Representatives of local financial institutes like banks; insurance companies and money exchangers have participated in this two-day event.

The seminar was a direct result of the amendment to the law “Reporting Unusual Transactions” which was passed by parliament at August 2012. Also, the Central Bank wants to support local financial institutes by providing them the knowledge and tools to upgrade their efficiency and enable the servicers to ensure their customers safe products. This seminar was strengthening for the key players in the financial sector on the impacts of this law.

The main subject of the seminar was the recent revised suggestions of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a UN organisation. National and international experts explained the changed insights, the implications for Suriname and the integration with our local legislation.

Last year the following laws were passed by parliament in this regard:

• Law Reporting Unusual Transactions (August 2012)
• Law Obligatory Identification for Servicers
• Law Control on Money Transaction Offices (October 2012)
• Permission to enter into the ‘International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism ‘ (October 2012)

In fact, Suriname received international recognition at the Plenary Meeting of the CFATF on November 14th and 15th 2012 at the British Virgin Islands for its endeavours to prevent money laundering and the combating of terrorism financing.