Greece scraps anti-laundering unit

Article reports that Greece has abolished its independent anti-money laundering unit, July 2008, amid a long-running scandal over the alleged bribery of Greek politicians and officials by the Siemens group. The Greek Parliament approved by a narrow majority a law replacing the independent unit with a new finance ministry committee to tackle money-laundering and economic crime.

Greece faces pressure from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental watchdog on criminal fund flows, to strengthen measures against money-laundering and terrorist financing.

Website: Financial Action Task Force (FATF) http://www.fatf-gafi.org/

IMF: IMF Country Report, No.6, 2006 http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2006/cr0606.pdf

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