United Nations

 VIENNA, 25 October (UN Information Service) – Thirty-one ( 31) international financial centers have made a high level political commitment to join the United Nations in a global initiative to adopt internationally accepted standards of financial regulation and anti-money laundering measures, the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) announced today.
 
 The commitment letters are in response to a Communiqué issued by the states and territories participating in the UN Global Programme against Money Laundering (GPML) Plenary held in the Cayman Islands on 30th–31st March 2000.  The Communiqué called for a global and non-discriminatory approach to the adoption of internationally accepted standards. 

 States and territories committing to the adoption of these minimum standards qualify to receive technical assistance from the UN in all matters relating to establishing or enhancing their anti-money laundering capability.  

 With regard to states and territories that have signed commitment letters, technical assistance has been or is currently being provided to Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas and Barbados.  Requests for assistance have been received from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force to assist with the establishment of a regional Financial Intelligence Unit within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

 In order to maximize its contribution to global efforts to control money laundering activities, the GPML Forum will concentrate its activities and resources on the provision of technical assistance that will facilitate the development or enhancement of financial intelligence units, as that concept is defined by the Egmont Group.

 The 31 states and territories making a formal commitment to adopt internationally accepted standards of financial regulation and anti-money-laundering measures are: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Isle Of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, Niue, Panama, Samoa, Seychelles, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks &Caicos.