WANT TO CLEAN EUROPE: START WITH GERMANY

Germany is one of the last three G20 countries to have NOT ratified the UN Convention against Corruption together with Japan and Saudi Arabia. This is not only embarrassing; it also undermines the credibility of Germany’s efforts to fight corruption at international level, and it is hampering the government’s ability to create a level playing field for German companies in international anti-corruption negotiations.

This situation is absurd because the German government wants others to fight corruption, yet it does not clean up its own house.

For reminder The UN Convention against corruption has this to say in Article 14 about measures to prevent money-laundering.

1. Each State Party shall

1. Institute a comprehensive domestic regulatory and supervisory regime for banks and non-bank financial institutions, including natural and legal persons that provide formal or informal services for the transmission of money or value and, where appropriate, other bodies particularly susceptible to money laundering, within its competence in order to deter and detect all forms of money laundering, which regime shall emphasize requirements for customers, and where appropriate, beneficial owner identification, record keeping and the reporting of suspicious transactions.
2. Ensure that administrative, regulatory, law enforcement and other authorities dedicated to combating money laundering (including where appropriate under domestic law, judicial authorities) have the ability to cooperate and exchange information at the national and international levels within the conditions prescribed by its domestic law, and to that end, shall consider the establishment of a financial intelligence unit to serve as a national centre for the collection, analysis and dissemination of information regarding potential money-laundering.

2. States shall consider implementing feasible measures to detect the movement of cash and appropriate negotiable instruments across their borders, subject to safeguards to ensure proper use of information and without impeding in any way the movement of legitimate capital. Such measures may include a requirement that individuals an business report the cross-border transfer of substantial quantities of cash and negotiable instruments.
3. State Parties shall consider implementing appropriate and feasible measures to require financial institutions, including money remitters:
   1. To include on forms for the electronic transfer of funds and related messages accurate and meaningful information on the originator;
   2. To maintain such information throughout the payment chain; and
   3. To apply enhanced scrutiny of transfer of funds that do not contain complete information on the originator.
4. In establishing a domestic regulatory and supervisory regime, State Parties are called upon to use as a guideline the relevant initiatives of regional, interregional and multilateral organizations against money-laundering.
5. State Parties shall endeavour to develop and promote global, regional, subregional and bilateral cooperation among judicial, law enforcement and financial regulatory authorities in order to combat money-laundering.

For all the attacks launched against Cyprus recently , it is worth noting that at least Cyprus is a signatory to the following international anti-corruption conventions:

• United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), New York, 31 October 2003, entered into force 14 December 2005, ratified by Cyprus 23 February 2009.
• Agreement for the Establishment of the International Anti- Corruption Academy as an International Organisation (IACA), Vienna, 2 September 2010, entered into force 8 March 2011, ratified by Cyprus 19 August 2011.
• Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, Strasbourg, 27 January 1999, entered into force 1 July 2002, ratified by Cyprus 17 January 2001 (the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption).
• Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption ratified on 21 November 2006, entered into force on 1 March 2007.
• Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, Strasbourg, 8 November 1990, entered into force 1 September 1993, ratified by Cyprus on 15 November 1996.
• European Framework Decision No. 2003/568/JHA, Combating Corruption in the Private Sector.
• Cyprus also joined the Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe in 1999 (GRECO)