Entering The Anti-Money Laundering Organization, Sri Mulyani: Enforce Indonesia's Position

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA Indonesia has officially become a full member of the 40th Financial Action Task Force (FATF), this was officially conveyed by the President of FATF at the closing of the FATF plenary meeting on Friday, October 27, 2023 in Paris, France.

This membership status was obtained after going through a series of tests, both from the on-site visit mutual evaluation review (MER) by the FATF team in July-August 2020 as well as a review that had been carried out at the Plenary Meeting FATF in June 2023.

FATF is an international organization focused on global efforts to eradicate money laundering, financing terrorism, and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati conveyed that Indonesia's entry into the FATF will have a positive impact on the credibility of the country's economy, especially on increasing positive perceptions of the Indonesian financial system to ensure the rapid economic growth through both domestic and foreign investment.

In addition, the joining of Indonesia as a full member of the FATF is expected to make a broad contribution to the determination of global strategic policies related to Anti-Money Laundering, Prevention of Terrorism Financing, and Funding for the Proliferation of Mass Destruction Weapons (PPSPM PPPPT).

"This contribution will also further strengthen Indonesia's position as a country with integrity and be able to contribute actively to the international arena," he explained in his official statement, Tuesday, November 2.

Sri Mulyani said the achievement of becoming a member of the FATF was Indonesia's first step to continue to improve PPSPM's PPPPT framework.

In addition, he added that the Ministry of Finance will strengthen in terms of the budget for supporting the role of Indonesia's leadership in the FATF, strengthening supervisory human resources and supervising the accounting profession, especially related to money laundering and terrorism financing issues.

Sri Mulyani said that she would ensure the implementation of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters or Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) between Indonesia and other countries, especially in order to narrow the gap in tax evasion, as well as increase the number and quality of assessors and reviewers from Indonesia to enter and play an active role in the MER FATF team.