Sri Lanka’s Financial Intelligence Unit Signs MOU with Anti-Corruption Commission to Enhance Information Exchange
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to facilitate the exchange of information pertinent to investigations and prosecutions of money laundering, bribery, corruption, and other related offences.
The MOU was signed by Mr. Chethiya Goonasekera, PC, Commissioner of CIABOC, and Mr. Kanishka Wijeratne, Director General of CIABOC, on behalf of CIABOC, and Dr. Subhani Keerthiratne, Director of the FIU, on behalf of the FIU. The signing ceremony was chaired by Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and Chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) National Coordinating Committee. Mrs. K.M.A.N. Daulagala, Deputy Governor of the CBSL and a member of the AML/CFT Task Force, also attended the event.
The new Anti-Corruption Act, No. 9 of 2023, empowers CIABOC to share investigation-relevant information with any local law enforcement or government authority. Similarly, under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), the FIU is authorized to enter into MOUs with domestic government institutions to exchange information. This MOU between CIABOC and the FIU will enable both bodies to exchange crucial information for the prevention, detection, and prosecution of money laundering, bribery, corruption, and other related crimes.
Since 2008, the FIU has signed 44 MOUs with foreign counterparts and 13 MOUs with domestic government agencies, including Sri Lanka Customs, the Department of Immigration and Emigration, the Inland Revenue Department, the Department for Registration of Persons, the Sri Lanka Police, and the Excise Department of Sri Lanka. These agreements aim to enhance the AML/CFT framework within the country.
Photo: Mr. Kanishka Wijeratne, Director General of CIABOC, and Dr. Subhani Keerthiratne, Director of the FIU, exchange the MOU in the presence of Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the CBSL and Chairman of the AML/CFT National Coordinating Committee, and Mr. Chethiya Goonasekera, PC, Commissioner of CIABOC.
Source – bizenglish.adaderana.lk
