Dirty money – tackling organised crime together

This week’s blog is a guest blog written by my colleague Rhys Patrick, Second Secretary, Political and Public Affairs.

Organised crime and terrorism are two of the world’s biggest security challenges. They can affect anyone at anytime, from people forced into human trafficking to those caught up in terrorist attacks. And they spawn other illicit activities like drug trafficking, fraud and identify theft which can all have real impacts on our everyday lives. Tackling these threats is naturally a top priority for national governments.

That includes the UK and Cuba. This week we are running a workshop in Havana to help strengthen Cuba’s anti-money laundering laws. Preventing crime and terrorism isn’t just about police operations and arrests – it is also about addressing the things criminals and terrorists depend on, one of which is money. Without money they could not afford to plan and carry out major attacks. So detecting and choking their incomes disrupts their activities and helps law enforcement bodies catch the culprits. But it also requires coordinated international cooperation. Criminals are experts at exploiting flaws in the global financial system, so we need to find and close any loopholes.

The workshop is a joint initiative with the Cuban Central Bank and GovRisk, an international organisation, and is funded by the British government. Over 50 Cuban government officials from a range of institutions like the Interior Ministry and the Courts will receive training from British and Latin American experts. The programme includes training on topics such as how to freeze terrorist assets and how to detect suspicious transactions. Cuban authorities already work hard to clamp down on money laundering but smart reforms will tighten the system and bring it into line with robust international standards.

The training will also help Cuba prepare for its 2014 evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body that assesses countries’ compliance with international anti-money laundering rules. Cuba was “blacklisted” by FATF in 2011 for not meeting these standards but moved to the “grey list” in 2012 after agreeing an action plan for reform. The UK was a strong supporter of this decision since we know how committed the Cuban government is to tackling money laundering. If Cuban officials can successfully implement the training from this week’s workshop, the country will be in a position to receive a positive report from FATF next year. In the long-term that will lead to additional economic benefits since Cuba will no longer be considered a “risky” jurisdiction by financial bodies potentially easing Cuba’s access to international capital.

Crime and terrorism are global threats. In 2013 alone there have been major terrorist attacks across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Both the UK and Cuba have experienced terrorism, most devastatingly the 1976 bombing of a Cubana flight and on the 2005 attacks on the London Underground both of which killed scores of innocent people. Hitting criminals and terrorists where it hurts – their wallets – will help prevent such attacks in the future, and keep our financial systems cleaner and our countries safer.