5 May 2009 - UNODC recently finalized the Model Provisions on Money-laundering, Terrorist Financing, Preventive Measures and Proceeds of Crime. The provisions, produced in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Monetary Fund, are a key resource for Member States in drafting legislation to address money-laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The provisions incorporate a legislative base for many of the requirements contained in existing relevant international instruments, including the Forty Recommendations on Money-Laundering and the Nine Special Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force against Money Laundering. They also strengthen these standards and suggest an approach for how to criminally confiscate and civilly forfeit illicitly gained proceeds and assets.
The provisions are split into seven substantive parts on the following topics: money-laundering and terrorist financing offences; cross-border transportation of currency and bearer negotiable instruments; preventive measures; financial intelligence units; conviction-based confiscation, benefit recovery and extended benefit recovery orders; civil forfeiture; and recovered assets fund. A model decree on financial intelligence units is included in the annex.
The provisions can be found on the website of the International Money-Laundering Information Network (IMoLIN), which is now administered and maintained by UNODC on behalf of 11 partner organizations.
State authorities considering the provisions should take care to adapt the underlying concepts and specific language to constitutional and fundamental legal principles in their systems. The provisions may be supplemented with additional measures a State considers suited to effectively combat money-laundering and the financing of terrorism in the national context.