Industry Information - 04/04/2002
A US-based Task Force on Information Exchange and Financial Privacy has released a Report on "Financial Privacy, Law Enforcement, and Terrorism".
The Task Force is chaired by former U.S. Senator Mack Mattingly and guided by Senior Advisors Edwin Meese, former U.S. Attorney General, and Jack Kemp, former Republican Vice Presidential nominee. It comprises leaders from the law enforcement, legal, public policy, and tax communities.
The report endorses the creation of international standards, modeled after the Geneva Convention, to improve cooperation in the global fight against crime and terrorism; and also calls on policy makers to more effectively target money laundering laws.
Task Force member Andrew F. Quinlan, President of the Centre for Freedom and Prosperity, said "With a diverse range of members, the Task Force was able to utilise expertise from several fields to develop proposals that will facilitate information sharing between free and democratic nations." Reportedly, the proposed Convention gives lawmakers a tool to investigate and prosecute those who violate the commonly shared laws of all civilised nations, yet protects the privacy rights of ordinary people.
The Heritage Foundation's Daniel Mitchell, also a Task Force member, applauded the recommendation to re-orient money laundering laws so they target suspected lawbreakers. According to Mitchell, "If implemented, the Task Force proposals will help law enforcement monitor the activities of terrorists and other criminals."
The Task Force has urged the U.S. Government to oppose the European Union's "Savings Tax Directive" as well as other tax harmonisation initiatives.
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