Black money laundered through Lankan stock exchange, alleges public interest activist

Developed countries must assist developing countries to combat the scourge of corruption, in terms of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), top Sri Lankan public interest activist Nihal Sri Ameresekere has said.

Addressing an international seminar in Jinan, China on June 24 by the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA), he referred to Chapter VI of the UNCAC on Technical Assistance and Information Exchange and pointed out that developed countries are specifically stipulated as being obligated to assist and pro- viding information to developing countries.

Discussing outrageous corporate frauds and financial scams in the developed world which even warranted governments to provide stimulus packages utilizing tax payer monies, Mr. Ameresekere debunked the premise of the UNCAC of the perception that developed countries were not corrupt, whereas developing countries were corrupt.

He said UNCAC had stipulated that the developing countries needed assistance of the developed countries to combat the cancerous menace of corruption, both in the public and private sectors as coming under its ambit since all those who are custodians of public monies are accountable as trustees thereof.

Citing the recent exposure of disclosures in tax havens mainly in developed countries perceived to be non-corrupt, Mr. Ameresekere stressed that under and in terms of the UNCAC, the developed countries should provide information disclosed pertaining to ‘politically exposed persons’ (PEPs) in developing countries who had stashed away funds in tax havens in such developed countries.

He pointed out that ironically whilst such proceeds of crime of corruption are considered as ‘dirty monies’ that tax havens in developed countries had indeed profited from such ‘dirty monies’.

Re-inforcing his arguments, Mr. Ameresekere pointed out that the current developments in international financial sectors, mandated financial institutions to ‘know their customers’, even where monies are stashed away under the guise of corporates, professionally constructed and held in trust for beneficial owners, who are the real owners of such proceeds of crime of corruption, and that such funds are in turn laundered in the share markets through stock exchanges. He cited specific disclosures made in the courts of Sri Lanka.

Further buttressing his stance, Mr. Ameresekere urged IAACA, which facilitates the promotion of the implementation of the UNCAC to take cognizance of the practical reality, that corruption authorities are unlikely to initiate Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) requests for information on proceeds of crime of corruption of their political masters, stashed away in Tax Havens. Therefore he urged that disclosure should be made by the developed countries, without waiting for such MLA requests from developing countries in terms of the UNCAC. He pointed out that assets declarations of real beneficial owners of trust corporates in Tax Havens would not disclose such ownership of corporates, making such declarations a fiction.

Mr. Ameresekere recently completed authoring a series of 13 books to the global market, documenting real case studies and dealing with subjects of fraud and corruption, economic crime, public finance, governance and the rule of law.