The Minister of Justice, Abderrachid Tabi, presented on Thursday the draft law on the prevention and fight against money laundering and terrorist financing to the Legal and Administrative Affairs Committee of the Council of the Nation.
In his presentation to the specialised commission of the Council of the Nation, in the presence of the Minister of Relations with Parliament, Besma Azouar, Mr Tabi said that this bill amending and supplementing Law 05-01 of 6 February 2005 on the prevention of and fight against money laundering and terrorist financing “is part of the adaptation of national legislation to the new international situation and the adaptation of the legal system to the treaties and conventions ratified by Algeria.
It is a mechanism to protect the national economy and the financial and banking system from this dangerous crime, he added.
This draft “complements the provisions set out in the draft law amending and supplementing the criminal code, submitted for examination to the General Secretariat of the Government, which qualifies as a terrorist act the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and sets the penalties incurred”, Tabi stressed.
This draft law is divided into 5 main areas, some of which concern the revision of certain terms for “greater precision”, the definition of the obligations of those involved in the prevention and fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he stressed.
The draft also provides for “administrative sanctions on financial companies, institutions and non-financial professions, such as lawyers, notaries, auctioneers, managers or their assistants in case of failure to comply with the obligations assigned to them, and obliges them to report any suspicious transactions to the specialised body”.
He stressed the need for associations and non-profit organisations to observe the rules of prudent conduct, particularly with regard to the acceptance of donations and financial aid from unknown sources and from suspicious activities, from persons and organisations or structures whose involvement in activities related to terrorist crimes has been confirmed inside or outside the territory of the Republic, as well as the refusal to accept cash without authorisation from the supervisory ministry.
The text also stipulates that in the event that the predicate offence is not proven, the prosecution will be based on the offence of money laundering as the predicate offence.
The law was recently adopted by the members of the National’s People Assembly.
