Peru’s Banking Supervisor anxious about Money Laundering
To combat money laundering, the banking supervisory agency in Peru needs more powers.
Peru is notorious as the world’s second-largest cocaine producer after Colombia. Fighting money laundering is a large part of anti- drug plan of President Alan Garcia for Peru.
According to the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Peru’s Superintendent of Banking (SBS), an investigation was conducted between September 2007 and February 2008 which revealed that transactions suspected of having relation to money laundering totaled USD 1.9 billion.
Superintendent of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Silvia Wuan, said to the congressional finance committee that the unit requires a law that would urgently allow reviewing tax documents with a view to fight money laundering. Wuan said that if the unit does not have a strong comparison of how much people are reporting for taxes and how much is in their balance, it’s very hard to make a report.
In March 2008, a separate financial investigation of casinos, currency exchange houses, used car dealerships and other businesses that do not have to answer to any government regulatory agency was begun by the unit. The businesses have to provide a registry of clients who have monthly transactions that total USD 10 000 or more the SBS.
In January 2008, a major money-laundering investigation was launched by police to reveal the members of a Peruvian family and more than 100 of their businesses.