Contact Forum on Combatting Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing
In 2017, the government launched a new strategy for combatting money laundering and terrorist financing. This has led to the establishment of a network of representatives from relevant government agencies and law enforcement agencies to ensure a more coordinated strategic effort in this field. The private sector participates in the network as an observer. The strategy also calls for closer cooperation between the relevant public agencies and the private sector in order to share knowledge and experience.
Completion Status:
*commitment is not specific or/and not measurable
Commitment filtering:
More than a commitment, this statement is considered a description of the current work of the Government of Norway to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. It is specific in the sense that it refers to a new strategy on the topic and to a concrete mechanism, the network of representatives. Further input from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance indicates that the government launched a more recent strategy for combatting money laundering and terrorist financing in 2020.[1] A new aspect in relation to the 2017 strategy is that the mandate of the network of representatives – the Contact Forum on Combatting Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing– was revised to increase its effectiveness in attracting relevant agencies. The forum now includes a higher number of participants. The forum was created in 2014 and is headed by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. In 2019 it had members from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of Public Prosecutions, National Police Directorate, Financial Supervisory Authority, Financial Intelligence Unit, Norwegian Police Security Service and the Police University College. The private sector is invited to attend the meetings when deemed appropriate.[2] The ministries also state that the network meets 2-4 times a year and, among other activities, coordinates measures following from the strategy. It also suggests research projects, new forms of cooperation between different institutions, and regulatory changes aimed at making anti-money laundering measures more efficient. The meetings’ regularity has been impacted by the Covid pandemic.
[1] Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security, and Ministry of Finance, The Government’s strategy for combatting money laundering, terrorist financing and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/regjeringens-strategi-for-bekjempelse-av-hvitvasking-terrorfinansiering-og-finansiering-av-spredning-av-masseodeleggelsesvapen/id2706323/
[2] Financial Action Task-Force (FATF), Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures – Norway Follow-up Assessment, https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/fur/Follow-Up-Assessment-Norway-2019.pdf
Even if there is a call for closer cooperation between public agencies and the private sector, there is no concrete action for measuring cooperation to assess the commitment’s implementation. Therefore, in the way the commitment is formulated, it cannot be considered measurable. In addition, although the existence of the network can be measured, the establishment of the network as such cannot be considered in this monitoring report, because it was created before the IACC in 2018. However, the Ministry of Finance reports that the compilation and coordination work of the Contact Forum regarding a non-public action plan based on the strategy was established after 2018. Although requested, more information on the cooperation between public agencies and the private sector was not forthcoming, therefore the commitment cannot be considered measurable.
Norway
