India and the US are looking at enhanced collaboration in combating money laundering and other financial crimes, which would involve greater transparency in beneficial ownership, including the implementation of beneficial ownership registries, tools to improve data quality and verification of the information. The two sides will pursue opportunities to enhance coordination and cooperation bilaterally and multilaterally, including working together within the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The common interest to ramp up efforts to track the flow of funds, reflected in the meeting of the co-chairs of the ‘US-India Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Dialogue’, Sanjay Malhotra, Revenue Secretary and US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, according to the joint statement of the India-US AML/CFT dialogue released by the Finance Minister. Both India and the US see this as an effective forum to share perspectives and best practices on how to strengthen the collective efforts of both the countries to address illicit finance risk across the two countries and the international financial systems.
Given the focus area of both sides to promote responsible innovation while mitigating illicit finance risks, the forum saw discussion on each country’s experience with virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. India and the US recognised the pressing need to accelerate global implementation of AML/CFT standards for virtual assets, in line with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, to effectively address the issue of regulatory arbitrage. This is a crucial step in combating money laundering and other financial crimes, as it allows authorities to track the flow of funds and identify those who are ultimately responsible for them.
In another significant progress, the delegations identified various areas in AML/CFT where India and the US can jointly work together and share experiences and best practices. The two sides agreed to convene the dialogue again next year to build on this week’s productive discussions and, as a build-up, continue technical-level discussions to advance the mutual priorities and identify additional areas for cooperation. Further, India and the US will pursue opportunities to enhance coordination and cooperation bilaterally and multilaterally, including working together within the FATF.
Reconvening and co-chairing the India-US. AML/CFT dialogue is seen as reaffirmation of the bilateral commitment to work jointly to address illicit finance risk in the international financial system.
