HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : G7 acts to tackle international financial crime [May 1998]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 9 May 1998.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown today welcomed agreement with G7 Finance Ministers to conduct national studies on ways to improve cooperation between regulators and law enforcement authorities to tackle international financial crime.
Commenting on the announcement, he said:
“Financial crime exists world wide and affects all economies. It is one of the major challenges of our time.
“We can only tackle it successfully if Governments work together to combat it as effectively as increasingly sophisticated criminals work together to commit it.
“G7 Ministers today discussed how to achieve better international cooperation between financial regulators and law enforcement authorities to beat the criminals. We are aware that systems for the exchange of information are not as quick and efficient as they need to be.
“We agreed to review our national laws and procedures to see where concrete improvements can be made.”
G7 members will report back on their findings by October and come forward with recommendations at next year’s Cologne Summit. Ministers also welcomed the Financial Action Task Force’s decision to extend its mandate for a further five years, and fully support its intention to develop a world-wide anti-money laundering network.
