think about how we can further improve our efforts in combating money laundering. prosecuting money laundering is a key tool in combating money laundering and other crimes in fiji. let ’ s come back to the 4th annual money laundering conference next year with more positive stories to share and not have to revisit where we have been falling down! our anti - money laundering laws and the efforts by financial institutions, the police, fiu and other investigative agencies will be in vain if criminals are not being successfully prosecuted for money laundering. it will also be in vain if criminals are allowed to live off the profit of their illegal activities. so let us return to our workplaces with clear and definite goals of how we can apply the lessons learnt from today ’ s conference in our respective work areas. our collaborative efforts in investigating and prosecuting money laundering crimes will provide a strong message to criminals and their associates that “ crime does not pay. ” ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience and i now have the pleasure of formally closing the 2011 3rd national anti - money laundering conference. vinaka vakalevu bis central bankers ’ speeches

barry whiteside : prosecuting money laundering crimes closing speech by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the 3rd national anti - money laundering conference on “ prosecuting money laundering crimes ”, suva, 9 november 2011. * * * introduction members of the national anti - money laundering council, members of the judiciary, invited speakers and conference delegates. a good afternoon to you all. we have come to the end of an intense day of discussions and i do not intend to keep you seated for too much longer! i trust that you have all enjoyed and benefited from the presentations and in - depth discussions at today ’ s conference. this year ’ s conference theme on prosecuting money laundering crimes is a timely one. thank you to the panel of speakers for sharing with us your valuable knowledge and experiences on our theme. thank you also madam shameem for your concise summary of today ’ s conference discussions. yes. the sessions today highlighted a number of important issues relating to the conference theme which we all need to ponder over and, more importantly, act on when we return to our offices. challenges it is quite clear that we face various challenges in prosecuting money laundering and in tracing and seizing criminal proceeds. the speakers have outlined some of these challenges relating to : i. expertise and resource issues ; ii. interpretation of the money laundering laws in fiji ; and iii. effective use of these money laundering laws by the relevant agencies. i urge you all to find ways to overcome these challenges. conferences like ours today, provide a perfect opportunity to bring people together to discuss strategies for dealing with these challenges and for sharing knowledge and experiences. ( this is our third such annual conference so i do hope we are taking the benefits forward! my plea is let ’ s not see this as a days paid leave away from the office! ) we also have the national aml council and its law enforcement working group which can facilitate networking and information sharing across agencies. effective use of legal provisions i would like to briefly touch on the issue of effective use of our money laundering laws to prosecute money laundering crimes. this is a key challenge facing our investigators and prosecutors. bis central bankers ’ speeches the ag clearly pointed out to us this morning that if we cannot successfully prosecute these crimes, then we signal to the criminal elements that we are not ready and they will continue to move in on us. today ’ s conference has highlighted that we do have the laws to prosecute money laundering activities. we also