Parliament Passes Anti-Money Laundering Bill for Review

Kathmandu. The proposal to consider the Prevention of Money Laundering (Third Amendment) Bill 2083 has been passed by the House of Representatives meeting. The proposal to consider, presented by Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle, was passed by the house.

After the theoretical discussion presented by Minister Dr. Wagle, MPs from Rastriya Swatantra Party, Vishwaraj Pokharel, Bidushi Rana, Parasmani Gelal, Dr. Krishnahari Budhathoki, Nepali Congress's Prof. Dr. Chandramohan Yadav and Gita Gurung, and Aaren Rai from Shram Sanskriti Party participated.

Responding to the questions raised in the theoretical discussion, Finance Minister Dr. Wagle expressed a strong commitment to remove Nepal from the international 'Grey List' (monitoring list) for money laundering within the next one and a half to two years.

Finance Minister Dr. Wagle mentioned that Nepal has two main 'black spots' on its international image. First, Nepal being blacklisted by the European Union's Aviation Safety List, and second, Nepal falling into the 'Grey List' in terms of financial transparency. 'Removing the country from both these lists is the government's top priority. It took a resource-rich country like the UAE 2 years to get out of the Grey List, and we will free Nepal from this list within the same timeframe,' said Finance Minister Dr. Wagle.

Accepting that Nepal fell under international monitoring due to the past tendency of making laws but not implementing them, Finance Minister Wagle stated that the government will now be strict in implementation.

Addressing the MPs' apprehension that the Anti-Money Laundering Act might be used for political vendetta, Dr. Wagle clarified its technical aspects. 'The issue of money laundering is not directly applied; for this, the 'predicate offense' (related offense) such as smuggling or corruption must first be proven,' Wagle said, 'Without proof, it will not be used for political vendetta. If that happens, we will not be able to get out of the Grey List, so the government will not do anything against the law and regulations.'

Commenting on the saying raised by MPs that 'power corrupts people', the Finance Minister said that the current government is bound by the system of check and balance and will act according to the spirit of the law. He stated that the government's steps for good governance will be reviewed quarterly and that the government will not hesitate to amend the law if necessary for further improvement in the coming days.