Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories

In June 22, 2001, the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF) on Money Laundering issued its twelfth annual report in
which it updated its
list of non-cooperative countries and territories. The FATF annual
report is entitled “Review to Identify Non-Cooperative Countries
or Territories: Increasing the Worldwide Effectiveness of Anti-Money
Laundering Measures”. You may view a copy of the report on the
OECD website at www.oecd.org/fatf.

The 2001 report removes the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein
and Panama from the list in recognition of their progress in implementing
international anti-money laundering standards, and adds Egypt, Guatemala,
Hungary, Indonesia, Myanmar and Nigeria. The current list is:

The FATF recommends that financial
institutions give special attention to business relations and transactions
with persons, including companies and financial institutions, from
the non-cooperative countries and territories listed above.

We ask you to take into account
the 2001 FATF report and to ensure that you make the sales and operational
personnel in your organization or any subsidiary or branches of your
organization aware of the countries and territories that the FATF
has identified as non-cooperative.

The Proceeds of Crime (Money
Laundering) Act 2000 provides a framework for requiring the
reporting of suspicious transactions. We expect that the federal
government will implement reporting requirements in the near future
based on guidelines published for comment on February 17, 2001
by the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre of Canada.
Under the draft guidelines, one basis for suspicion is that the
transaction originates in a country “known or suspected to
facilitate money laundering activities”, like a country on
the FATF list of non-cooperative jurisdictions. In view of the
impending implementation of this reporting requirement, we urge
you to increase your scrutiny of accounts and transactions from
countries on the FATF list.

Sincerely,

“Donald G. Murray“
Donald G. Murray
Chairman
Manitoba Securities Commission