The Government of Nepal is coming up with a new regulatory that would check money laundering in the country\u2019s bullion market.<\/p>\n
The new regulatory aims to bring in transparency and curb illegal money flow in the trading of precious metals.<\/p>\n
The latest decision is coming after the concerned authorities reported irregularities in the sector and sought legal intervention to monitor transaction flow in the sector.<\/p>\n
Following this, the National Coordination Committee formed to check money laundering in collaboration with various government agencies proposed to form a regulatory body to check money laundering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe committee headed by Finance Secretary recently recommended the government to pick the regulator from among the three agencies\u2014 Inland Revenue Department, Department of Revenue Investigation and Department of Commerce and Supply Management. The Cabinet should decide on the regulator,\u201d informed Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DoMLI) Director General Jiwan Prakash Sitaula.<\/p>\n
Current Scenario<\/strong> In the current scenario, banks report to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in case of suspicious transactions around Rs 1 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThe move to appoint regulator in bullion market aims to implement \u2018Know Your Customer\u2019. It would identify people who do gold transactions and monitor those who invest illegal earned money in gold,\u201d says Binod Lamichhane<\/span>, DoMLI Spokesperson.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How New Regulatory Helps?<\/strong> FATF is basically an inter-governmental agency that mandates effective implementation of regulatory, legal and operational measures to curb money laundering and terrorist financing.<\/p>\n In line with FATF recommendations, the Money Laundering Prevention Act also mandates bullion traders to have records of customers doing Rs1 million or above worth precious metal transactions in a day.<\/p>\n However, FATF\u2019s 2015 study states that criminals use gold as an alternative to move their illegal assets by overcoming the existing regulatory against money laundering activity.<\/p>\n This is a serious concern for Nepal considering the country\u2019s vulnerability to gold smuggling.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s really surprising to know that Nepali bullion sector lacks a regulatory despite running billions worth transactions in the trading process.<\/p>\n
\nAccording to Binod, the new regulatory also aims to follow recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering body.<\/p>\n