Minister of State chairs his first meeting of Committee for Coordination and Monitoring of the National Strategy on Money Laundering

© Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali

On Friday 20 September, the Minister of State chaired, for the first time, a meeting of the senior members of the Committee for Coordination and Monitoring of the National Strategy on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Corruption. Mr Samuel Vuelta Simon, Mr Lionel Beffre and Mr Eric Arella also took part in the meeting for the first time.

Surrounded by numerous officials, Didier Guillaume wished to thank everyone involved for the quality and significance of the progress made since the mutual evaluation report was adopted by the MONEYVAL Committee in December 2022.

The Minister of State was particularly keen to highlight the numerous legislative and regulatory reforms that had been rolled out in just a few months, the development and implementation of a comprehensive national strategy, the improvement in cooperation at both the national and international levels, the establishment of new authorities (the Monaco Financial Security Authority (AMSF) and the Seized or Confiscated Assets Management Department), as well as the increase in the number of money laundering investigations, in line with Monaco’s risk profile, and the improvement in financial transparency.

These developments clearly confirm that efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation are a national priority and demonstrate the shared determination of the authorities to protect the integrity of Monaco’s economic and financial system, fully in line with the guidelines regularly reiterated by H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince since he acceded to the throne in 2005.

During this meeting, the Committee unanimously approved the mandate of the recently created Permanent Secretariat, the Committee’s permanent technical, administrative and operational body. It is a joint ministerial unit which coordinates the implementation of the national strategy by each organisation, ensuring that discussions are cross-cutting and monitoring the work carried out.

The Minister of State reiterated the requirements of the FATF Action Plan to be implemented by the Principality given the 18-month deadline for achieving the targets set.

Didier Guillaume called for the continued engagement and unwavering commitment of all stakeholders within the Government.