IV
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 495
Expressing the sense of the House regarding support for the Financial Action
Task Force on Money Laundering, and the timely and public identifica-
tion of noncooperative jurisdictions in the fight against international
money laundering.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 4, 2000
Mrs. ROUKEMA (for herself, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. BORSKI, Mr.
MCINNIS, Mr. GOSS, Mr. PICKETT, and Mr. MCCOLLUM) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Banking
and Financial Services
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House regarding support for
the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering,
and the timely and public identification of noncooperative
jurisdictions in the fight against international money
laundering.
Whereas the International Monetary Fund has estimated the
amount of international money laundering to be at least
$600,000,000,000 annually representing 2 to 5 percent
of the world’s gross domestic product;
Whereas money laundering is a crucial adjunct to the under-
lying crimes that generate money, including drug traf-
•HRES 495 IH
ficking, kidnapping, murder, international terrorism, and
other forms of violent crime;
Whereas money laundering and foreign corruption facilitate
each other, undermining the efforts of the United States
to promote democratic institutions and economic develop-
ment around the world;
Whereas, in today’s open and global financial markets, which
are characterized by a high mobility of funds and the
rapid development of new payment technologies, the tools
for laundering the proceeds of serious crimes have be-
come more sophisticated and readily available;
Whereas recent years have witnessed a sharp increase in the
number of jurisdictions offering financial services without
appropriate controls or regulation and which are pro-
tected by strict banking secrecy legislation which facili-
tates the anonymous protection for illegal assets in cer-
tain countries or territories making them even more at-
tractive for money laundering;
Whereas the proliferation of such noncooperative countries or
territories which do not, or only marginally, participate in
international cooperation against financial crime, also ex-
acerbates competition between these centers and so con-
tributes to worsen existing practices and makes more dif-
ficult the maintenance of anti-money laundering stand-
ards in other countries;
Whereas, in order to ensure the stability of the international
financial system and effective prevention of money laun-
dering, all financial centers in the world should have com-
prehensive control, regulation, and supervision systems,
and that all financial intermediaries and agents be sub-
•HRES 495 IH
Whereas the FATF is gathering and analyzing all relevant
information necessary for the publication of lists of non-
cooperative jurisdictions: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House that—
(1) the United States should continue to ac-
tively and publicly support the objectives of the
FATF with regard to combating international
money laundering;
(2) the FATF should identify noncooperative
jurisdictions in as expeditious a manner as possible
and publicly release a list directly naming those ju-
risdictions identified;
(3) the United States should support the public
release of the list naming noncooperative jurisdic-
tions identified by the FATF;
(4) the United States should encourage the
adoption of the necessary international action to en-
courage compliance by the identified noncooperative
jurisdictions; and
(5) the United States should take the necessary
countermeasures to protect the United States econ-
omy against money of unlawful origin and encourage
other nations to do the same.
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