Terror funding law to get priority

NEW legislation to prevent funding for terrorists is to be given high priority when the Dáil returns in the autumn.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern published the draft legislation yesterday for the new money laundering and anti-terrorism bill.

He said it would withdraw some existing laws and replace them with new legislation that meets international crime standards at the earliest opportunity.

“It is my intention to have this bill considered by the Oireachtas as a matter of priority,” he said.

The new law will belatedly bring the Government into line with European regulations.

The bill will make it easier to chase an international money lending trail and prosecute offences.

Banks and financial institutions must ensure new customers are not setting up accounts to facilitate laundering but they will not have to do onerous checks on smaller clients.

It also provides for greater transparency in the operation of member’s only gaming clubs and casinos.

And it requires banks to carry out more stringent checks on people with prominent political records.

Sinead Ovenden, director of compliance and regulation at Deloitte, said the finance industry considers this to be the most controversial measure because of the difficultly identifying politically prominent people and their family ties.

In May the government lost a related case in the European Court of Justice. The commission had taken it to court because of a failure to implement a directive aimed at exposing terrorist related money laundering.

Yesterday, Mr Ahern said the new bill added to the measures included in the Money Laundering Directive and took on the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The FATF, an international anti-terrorist financing body, published its report on Ireland in 2006 and Mr Ahern said these had been taken on board.

“We need to ensure that our own anti money laundering regime in second to none,” he said.