The meeting, to discuss the measures and performance of the agencies subject to AML Law in the year 2011 and future plan of 2012, was held in the Secretariat of High Council on Anti-Money laundering, on 10 April 2012, with the participation of representatives and officials of banks and financial institutions, Central Bank, Central Insurance, Customs, Tax Affairs Organization, Securities and Exchange Organization, Centre for Modernization and Administrative Reform, Financial Intelligent Unit, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.

In the meeting, performance of banks and financial institutions in the year 2011, from the perspective of the reports of the comprehensive project management system, was reviewed and evaluated. Furthermore, with regards to the progress of the project related to persons subject to the Law, major topics to advance 2012 plan, was approved with the cooperation and the feedback of representatives and the officials of agencies, and it was prescribed that, till the end of the year, all agencies allocate all their efforts to achieve the objectives of the Roadmap and Action Plan adopted by the High Council on Anti-Money Laundering.

At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the agencies and organizations, presented their questions and expressed their viewpoints. According to the frequency of topics, responses were provided by the meeting organizers.

The meeting centered on the assessment and evaluation of the afore-mentioned workshop and the next steps of cooperation with the Thailand’s FIU and the Italy’s FIU. The representative of the UNODC reported on the strengths and weaknesses of the workshop. The agenda was in fact a study of how to use the self-assessment system to combat money laundering and how to use international experience and exchange information with international experts. In this regard, a joint meeting was set to be held at the beginning of the next year with international experts and evaluators to recognize and evaluate the anti money laundering system in Iran ahead of a formal assessment by the IMF. Also, in order to exchange information between participating countries, it was decided that competent authorities of Thailand and Italy, provide the Iranian relevant bodies their experiences in the field of combating money laundering.

Then a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that already was prepared between Iran’s FIU and Thailand’s FIU was negotiated and amended so that it will be signed by the relevant authorities at the beginning of the next year meeting.

Due to the importance of real estate registration in combating money laundering, a meeting was attended by Deputy of Documents Affairs in National Organization for Notarization of Deeds and Properties and the head of the notaries association. In this session, infrastructures and executive measures in this Organization in the field of combating money laundering were explained. Italian experiences in this regard were presented; and also, in a separate meeting, it was agreed that technical assistance for the promotion and improvement of the capacity of combating money laundering to be provided to the said Organization.

Following that, Mr. Ahmadabadi explained the Iranian legal, organizational and administrative structure for Combating money laundering and terrorism financing. He also clarified on the strategy of Islamic republic of Iran in this field, in the form of a adopted roadmap and action plan.

Then Mr. Weekon the General Director of financial intelligence unit in the anti money laundering organization of Thailand provided a description of the domestic rules for reporting to the banks and entities in that country. He also provided examples of money laundering operations in the country’s banking system, and reported some cases of gathering and preliminary analysis of suspicious financial transactions reports by the law enforcement.

In the afternoon, “Dr. Paolo Pasqualis “, the director and member of the Italian notary public office, while explaining the rules and regulations related to combating money laundering in his country, dealt with and clarified the role of the Notaries in combating money laundering . Then, he described the practical and operational cases of the estate market and provided a description with regard to the process of reporting those cases to the Italian FIU.

On the second day of the workshop, Mr. Peliteri and Mr. Persona, the representatives of Italian G.di.F” expressed the country’s rules and regulations applying on the banks and reporting agencies, and also described the role of, broker-dealer, in cash exchanges, in jewelry, and precious objects, and provided practical examples in that regard.

In the second day’s afternoon session, international experts distributed ten practical examples among the participants and asked for the comments of the attendant experts and managers on the topics mentioned there. The session was divided into separate groups in an operational and performance form, therefore, all participants had enough time to discuss about the issues that were presented, and express their comments on the examples. In the end, the international experts described the cases in detail.

It should be mentioned that, at the end of the two-day workshop being held at the Iranian organization of community in foreign ministry, course certificates were awarded to participants.

At this conference, the Ministers of Economy and Justice, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank and the Chairman of Principle 90 commission of Parliament were present and each agency explained their achievements in Anti-Money Laundering area.

Minister of Justice

We want the determination of corruption indicators in various administrative agencies.

The Minister of Justice, at the conference, described blocking the sources of corruption besides overseeing possible gateways of corruption as appropriate ways in fighting against Money Laundering.

Mr. Bakhtiyari believed that the eight-article command issued by the I.R of Iran Supreme Leader, 10 years ago, makes the duties of the High Council on Anti-Money Laundering heavy.

He regarded laws, such as Article 44 of the Constitution, violations investigation law of the government employees, and aggravated punishment for embezzlement and bribery perpetrators, useful for building a healthy economy. He also said that the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism laws are good to help the transparency of funds flow in the country.

Minister of Economy

The UN considers charges of Money Laundering against Iran futile.

Dr. Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini expressed the ideas and the time used for the legislation of the directives of Anti-Money Laundering law. He stated that enforcement of these laws can make stronger arguments for the Islamic Republic of Iran to fight against Money Laundering because some western entities, by ignoring Iran’s measures in Anti-Money Laundering, provide the materials of the statements and resolutions against Iran.

Hosseini pointed out the false charges of Money Laundering on Iran and stated that, by accusing Iran of Money Laundering, they apply sanctions on Iran and block the legal and official channels that had been used by us before for years.

The Minister of Economy indicated that proper legal entities have been established for AML, specifically since the last three years of legislation of AML law. He added that the liable agencies should help the Secretariat of High Council on Anti-Money Laundering in providing appropriate and accurate reports so that a more reliable collection may be provided for us in comparison with the past.

The chairman of High Council on Anti-Money Laundering referred to the appropriate measures in the field of Information Technology for the observation of possible violations in Money Laundering and mentioned that many of the countries in the region do not have the IT and data integration skills in our country that this can be a suitable means to combat Money Laundering.

He declared that today, some countries that are the source of Money Laundering offences have become the pioneers of fighting against it and he added that Iran is determined to develop relationship with international entities and follows up required measures to develop bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

He noted that the roadmap and plan of Money Laundering for the next two or three years have been developed in High Council on Anti-Money and the results of the measures are monitored and controlled in each stage. Duties of agencies and required directives have been determined in this roadmap.

Minister of Economic affairs and Finance announced that Iran is ready to cooperate with all active international entities and institutions in AML area and mentioned the United Nations Office on drugs and Crimes (UNODC) as the only official international organization in this field.

Hosseni, about some allegations to Iran about Money Laundering, asserted that although the only official authority in this area is UNODC and this office has also considered Iran’s measures positive, Iran is ready to cooperate with all the related international entities and institutions in the area of AML such as FATF that accused Iran of Money Laundering.

 Asghar Abolhasani Hastiani- Secretariat of High Council on Anti-Money Laundering

Money Laundering charges on Iran is political.

He mentioned that identifying suspicious transaction reports, reporting them online to the High Council on Anti-Money Laundering, analyzing them with computer programs and software, and finally forwarding suspicious cases of Money Laundering to judicial authorities are the four basic practical stages of Anti-Money Laundering.

He also added that Egmont group is a technical group in Anti-Money Laundering and the bilateral cooperation in this field is necessary.

Meanwhile, Abolhasani regarded the statements of FATF political _ FATF has been established since 1989 with the membership of 38 countries. He also stated that the High Council on Anti-Money Laundering has replied to all the questions and measures of this group. He said: “we have invited them to come to Iran to review our explanations but not only they came but also they did not let us go there. Anyway in 2009, I went to Paris for some explanations and they promised the amendments of the statement, but they did not do that. It shows that their action is political.”

Deputy Governor of the Central Bank

Seyed Hamid Pourmohammadi, at the conference, mentioned that Central bank, to combat Money Laundering, has carried out measures in three areas of policymaking and legislation, IT and transparency of operations, and finally executive implementations. Accordingly, ten directives in the area of AML, in addition to twenty two directives in legal matters, based on the Acts of the board of ministers and the Council on Money and Credit, have been notified to Central Bank.

Pourmohammadin considered organizing credit cooperatives, leasing and money exchange offices for the purpose of monitoring all the financial transactions. According to Pourmohammadi, all the financial activities of the country are under the monitor and control of Central bank.

The chairman of principle 90 commission of the Parliament

The turnover of drug trafficking is $15 billion annually.

The chairman of principle 90 commission of the parliament, by stressing that the fight against economic corruption has a long way ahead, stated that the turnover of drug trafficking is $15 billion annually.

Mohammad Ebrahim Nekunam, at the conference, mentioned that ownership is respectable in Islam but it is not acceptable when its source is illegal. Thus, according to the law, it is the government duty to recover all properties that belong to people from usurer and aggressors.

He mentioned that most of the illicit money comes from drug trafficking that spreads terrorism and causes destruction of human being.

According to him, the interest rate for Afghanistan from the production of drugs has been increased since the attacks on September 11, and this money is used for investment in Europe.

He emphasized that our country is a pioneer in fighting against Money Laundering and its proceedings, but there is a long way ahead to eliminate economic corruption.

In a meeting with Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance here in Tehran, UNODC Executive Director underlined Iran’s effective measures taken to fight against money laundering.

 “Effective measures taken by Islamic Republic of Iran in fight against money-laundering and related crimes deserve the acknowledgement of the international community,” Fedotov told the reporters.

 He also expressed gratitude for Iran’s 100-thousand-dollar donation to the United  Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Country Programme for the I.R. of Iran  in  the  field  of Crime, Justice and Corruption and pointed out that Iran has become a donor to UNODC along with other important countries.

 Asked about the reason why Western governments accuse Iran of money-laundering, UNODC Executive Director said, “We do not take these accusations seriously and what matters to us is the anti-money laundering measures taken by Iran which have been quite effective.”

 Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Hosseini underlined the anti-money laundering efforts made by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as the only internationally-recognised institution in fight against money laundering and related crimes.

 Hosseini expressed Iran’s readiness to cooperate with international bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to combat money-laundering across the world.

 “Iran is ready to share its expertise in fight against money-laundering and related crimes with any country that the United Nations demands,” said the Head of Iran’s High Council on Anti-Money Laundering.

 He also called for further attention to be paid by international community and institutions to Iran’s anti-money laundering efforts