The government is planning to pass a law to bolster the fight against money laundering.

Feedback is now being sought on the Anti-Money Laundering and Other Financial Crime (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2017, which the government says is aimed to strengthen the Isle of Man’s reputation as a ’responsible and well-regulated international business centre’.

The Cabinet Office launched a public consultation on behalf of the Department of Home Affairs.

The proposed changes will enhance the Isle of Man’s compliance with global standards on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.

The Bill also acts on the recommendations made by Moneyval to ’strengthen the regulatory framework and further protect the Isle of Man from financial crime’.

Clare Bettison MHK, political member for Home Affairs, said: ’The Isle of Man takes its responsibilities as an international business centre very seriously. The improvements outlined in the consultation document and the accompanying draft Bill are clear evidence of our commitment to making the changes recommended by Moneyval’s committee of experts. I would encourage members of the public and business community to submit their views via the government consultation.’

The full Mutual Evaluation Report on the Isle of Man is available via the government website.

The Bill proposes new measures aimed at trustees acting in a personal capacity (non-professional trustees) and foreign trustees, including requirements to keep records. There are additional record-keeping requirements for foundations and changes that clarify the powers of the Companies Registrar to examine and investigate relevant documents filed with the Registry.

The proposed legislation includes a higher level of financial sanctions for failing to grant law enforcement authorities timely access to information.

It also makes it explicit that where parts of a dishonesty offence such as theft or forgery were committed abroad, these can be prosecuted in a Manx court. It would not matter if offenders were operating from abroad, as they would be caught by the legislation.

Feedback is being invited on the proposals in the consultation document and views can be submitted using the government consultation hub at https://consult.gov.im/.

Further information is available from Sinead King, AML/CFT Officer, [email protected], phone 685896, Cabinet Office, Government Office, Buck’s Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3PN.

The closing date for responses is February 5.

Moneyval is the name given to the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism is known.

Moneyval is a Council of Europe body set up to evaluate anti-money laundering measures and terrorism finances, said earlier this year that the Isle of Man needed to up its game.

The Council of Europe is not part of the European Union.

It said the Manx authorities should collect and maintain statistics on outgoing and incoming flows of funds in the financial sector.

There should be a reassessment of the risk posed by lawyers, the real estate sector and the quality of border controls - and a more detailed assessment of potential risks resulting from due diligence information provided to banks by trust and corporate services providers.

But perhaps the most significant area of concern was the resourcing of the Financial Crime Unit.

Moneyval’s inspectors concluded that the FCU needed to do more to investigate cases where the money being laundered was generated in another jurisdiction.

And it said that the newly-created stand-alone Financial Intelligance Unit should be more proactive in generating intelligence.