OTHER NEWS - May 25, 1992

OAS Tries to Curb Money Laundering: The Organization of American States has presented its 34 member countries with a set of laws designed to limit banking secrecy in a bid to stop the laundering of drug money. The OAS said banks should verify the identity of and seek as much information as possible on anyone opening an account and depositing a large sum of cash. Information should be kept for a minimum of five years and made available when judicial authorities request it. Uruguay, a key offshore banking center in South America, has been singled out in Washington as one of the points where proceeds from the region’s multibillion-dollar illicit drug business are “laundered,” or injected into the legal financial system. Many nations in the Western Hemisphere lack the legal framework to penalize certain aspects of the money-laundering business.