November 2009

25/11/2009 – Ethiopia passes the AML Bill.

Ethiopia has finally passed their AML Bill. The National Bank of Ethiopia who drafted the Bill stated that the law will prevent money laundering. However, recent government organisations have commented on some of the Bill’s articles that raise a concern.

The Bill in its current state substantially affects the fiduciary relationship between a client and a lawyer. Article 6 of the bill says, ‘No obligation of confidentiality imposed by other laws shall affect any obligation under this proclamation to report or furnish information’ According to this, a lawyer will have to disclose any information regarding their clients- if it is believed that it would advance the Financial Intelligence Centre’s investigation.

The new law provides protection to those who disclose information to the authorities, thus lawyers will not be held liable. This essentially also contradicts the Criminal Code (Article 399), as it obliges lawyers to keep client information confidential.

Moreover, as a result of this law, a Financial Intelligence Centre has been established. Further, it states anyone who owns ‘property disproportionate to his present or past income is subject to punishment including imprisonment of 3-5 years if he fails to give satisfactory explanation to the court as to how he came to acquire it’.

We expect to update our Ethiopian template in the following weeks. Please visit us or subscribe to our RSS system in the homepage to learn about this and other news and updates.



Prepared by:

Zina Jamilova
IBA Commercial Law Intern

10/11/2009: New Anti-Money Laundering Practice Note for Solicitors.

The practice note has been in force since September 2007. It helps solicitors to comply with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Terrorism Act 2000, Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and all amending legislation up to February 2008.

The practice note deals with issues concerning: systems, policies and procedures, offences, legal privilege, and disclosure.

The approved amendments will require the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the courts to consider the practice note whenever they are dealing with allegations concerning a solicitor regarding one of the following:

1. Money laundering;
   
   
2. Failing to report suspected money laundering; and
   
   
3. Failure to comply with the requirements of the Money Laundering regulations 2007.

The amendments can be found in Chapters 1, 3 and 4-11. Chapters 2 and 12 remain the same. The approved amendments can be found here.

Prepared by:

Patricia Adams
IBA Commercial Law Intern

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08/11/2009: Kyrgyz’s lawyers have new obligations from today.

Prior to the new AML law, according to the EAG (Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism), Kyrgyz had gaps in the system of preventive measures on customer due diligence, record-keeping and internal controls applied to non-bank financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions.

The new AML law states that if a lawyer engages in business activities, such as providing legal accounting services and has grounds to believe that the particular transaction he or she is dealing with is for the purposes of money laundering, he or she must send information to the authorised state body without notifying the client.

Click here to view Kyrgyz’s country template.

Prepared by:

Zina Jamilova
IBA Commercial Law Intern
 

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06/11/2009: Pakistan’s National Assembly Approves Draft Bill against Money Laundering

Prior to this approval, Pakistan’s regulations on money laundering were not in accordance with its international obligations. In fact, it was named as one of five countries with archaic money laundering regulations. The other four countries are Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Sao Tome and Principe, a group of islands in Western Africa.

As a signatory to various UN Conventions, it was pertinent that Pakistan upgrade its regulations. The approved Bill will greatly enhance compliance requirements in Pakistan. Terror financing for example will become illegal. A discussion of the Bill can be found here.

We will soon prepare a country template for Pakistan reporting on the new obligations for lawyers.

Prepared by:

Patricia Adams
IBA Commercial Law Intern

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