Dedy Agoes Mahendra - Thailand

Committee : The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN)

Country : Kingdom of Thailand
Topic : The Use of Money Laundering to Fund Terrorist Groups

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that up to five percent of the world’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) or 1.5 trillion dollars is laundered every year. This illegal activity has become a
concern for most countries in the world because the impact is devastating, and it’s global. Similar channels
used by money launderers are also used to finance terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. They thrive when countries have vulnerabilities in their financial system.
In recent years, and especially since the events of coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist
group al-Qaeda against the United States on September 11, 2001, worldwide efforts to combat money
laundering and the financing of terrorism have assumed heightened importance. Money laundering and the
financing of terrorism are global problems that not only threaten security, but also compromise the stability,
transparency, and efficiency of financial systems, thus undermining economic prosperity. This has become
crucial so that The United Nations has taken many steps in the past to combat the issues of money laundering
and terrorism, passing various resolutions, but still not effective enough to combat it.
The Government of the Kingdom of Thailand has taken important steps to address the threat that the
laundering of criminal proceeds poses to our financial stability and national security. Therefore, we
demonstrated our serious commitment through its enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of B.E. 2542
(1999). However, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime is
not fully in line with international standards and codes, there are weaknesses in the legal framework, the
pursuit of money laundering cases, and the coverage of institutions and in enforcement.
Understanding the issue at hand, Thailand firmly believes that international cooperation is needed to
address these threats and action must encompass financial sector supervision and regulation, good governance,
judicial and legal reform, as well as effective law enforcement. Therefore, we propose:

1. Urging all countries to enhance the use of the International Money-Laundering Information
Network (IMoLIN) which provide freely-accessed information about money laundering between
the various Central Banks, so it can help track down money launderers.
2. Reforming the legal framework of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of
Terrorism (AML/CFT) by prioritizing global cooperation so as to eliminate national and
international threats that can be caused by the use of money laundering to fund terrorist groups.
3. Recommending the establishment of sanction to the General Assembly in order to condemn the
states, organizations, or people who play a role in money laundering and financing of terrorism.
 Dedy Agoes Mahendra - Thailand

References:

 https://www.state.gov/anti-money-laundering-and-countering-the-financing-of-terrorism/ [accessed
on August 9, 2019]
 https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2007/cr07376.pdf [accessed on August 9, 2019]
 https://www.imolin.org/pdf/imolin/11-86446_imolin_appr.pdf [accessed on August 9, 2019]