FIU signs MOU with Excise Department

CBSL Assistant Governor and former FIU Director E.H. Mohotty (left) and Excise Commissioner General J.M.S.N. Jayasinghe exchange the MoU in the presence of CBSL Governor and AML/CFT National Coordinating Committee Chairman Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe 

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Excise Department of Sri Lanka recently at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to exchange information related to investigations and prosecutions of money laundering, terrorist financing and other related crimes.

The move was in terms of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006  (FTRA).

Excise Commissioner General J.M.S.N. Jayasinghe and former FIU Director E.H. Mohotty signed the MOU on behalf of the respective institutions in the presence of CBSL Governor and of the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) National Coordinating Committee Chairman Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe. 

Money laundering and terrorist financing are financial crimes with a global presence, which could threaten the stability of national and global economic and financial systems. The MOU between the Excise Department of Sri Lanka and the FIU would enable both institutions to exchange information which is vital for prevention, detection and prosecution of such offences.

Since 2008, the FIU has entered into 44 MOUs with foreign counterparts as well as 11 MOUs with domestic Government agencies including Sri Lanka Customs, Department of Immigration and Emigration, Inland Revenue Department, Department for Registration of Persons, Sri Lanka Police, etc., in order to share information to strengthen the AML/CFT framework of the country.