SL at 2023 Annual Plenary of Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering

CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe attended the signing of the MoU between FIU of Sri Lanka and FIU of TimorLeste with Banco Central de Timor-Leste Head of Financial Information Unit Maria Jose de 

Jesus Sarmento

CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe exchanges the MoU signed between FIU of Sri Lanka and FIU of Lao PDR with Bank of Lao PDR Deputy Governor Vathana Dalaloy 

Central Bank Governor and National Coordinating Committee on Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Chairman Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe, attended the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) Annual Plenary and the ensuing Technical Assistance and Training (TA&T) Forum from 11 to 14 July 2023 in Vancouver, Canada.

The Sri Lankan delegation consisted of the expert assessors participating in the respective Mutual Evaluations of the Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Lao (Lao PDR), Nepal and Brunei. The annual Plenary brought together over 300 delegates from the 42 APG member countries, observer institutions and jurisdictions, and private sector stakeholders to discuss issues concerning countering serious financial crime, including money laundering (ML), terrorist financing (TF), and proliferation financing relating to weapons of mass destruction (PF).

The 2023 APG was co-chaired by Messrs. the Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance from the Department of Finance of Canada Julien Brazeau and Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney,. 

During the Plenary, two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka and the FIUs of Timor Leste and Lao PDR. These MoUs would assist to enhance international cooperation and collaboration in combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (ML/TF) between the respective jurisdictions. 

Governor Weerasinghe, provided leadership in facilitating these partnerships, reflecting Sri Lanka's commitment to strengthening international ties in the fight against illicit financial activities.

Governor Weerasinghe exchanged the MoU signed between FIU of Sri Lanka and FIU of Lao PDR with Bank of Lao PDR Deputy Governor Vathana Dalaloy.

Further, the Sri Lankan delegations engaged with several country delegations during the visit, including:

nBrunei Delegation led by Brunei Ministry of Finance and Economy Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (Fiscal) Zety Sufina Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Sani

nIndian Delegation led by FIU, India Director Vivek Aggarwal

nMalaysian Delegation led by Bank Negara Malaysia Deputy Governor Marzunisham Omar

nNepal Delegation led by Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari

nPakistan Delegation led by Pakistan Financial Monitoring Unit Director General Lubna Malik

nPapua New Guinea delegation led by Bank of Papua New Guinea Acting Governor Elizebeth Genia

The Governor held discussions with several multilateral technical assistance providers and experts in the AML/CFT field in relation to furthering technical assistance to Sri Lanka to assist the country in its upcoming Mutual Evaluations scheduled to March 2025.

The APG Plenary is viewed as a forum that provided interactions with peer jurisdictions where the Sri Lankan delegation were able to strengthen and showcase Sri Lanka’s unwavering commitment to combat ML/TF, and to ensure the integrity and stability of Sri Lanka's financial system.