I appeal to all of you to support this initiative, which we can discuss in more detail during the Operational Segment next week. Returning to the subject at hand, I will address progress since the Special Session on one additional priority area, that of money laundering. Most of the eighty-one governments reported such legislation to be already in place. I suspect that figure is even higher among the states which did not report. This comes at a time when the volume of funds being laundered has reached unprecedented levels.
Individual cases involve amounts greater than the GDP of many countries.
Money laundering cannot be controlled if there remain any jurisdictions where criminals can hide their money. Let us mention two significant developments. As part of a process we launched at a meeting in the Cayman Islands in March of last year, thirty-three offshore banking jurisdictions have officially communicated to me their commitment to bring their legislation up to international standards of financial transparency. Our Global Programme against Money-Laundering is providing assistance where needed. This initiative is based on our conviction that a constructive engagement with offshore jurisdictions is the course of action most likely to produce the desired results.