Press Release No 18 –
The Financial Intelligence Unit Signs
Memorandum Of Understanding With The Fijian Elections Office
Press Release No. : 18/2016
Date : 11 August 2016
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Fijian Elections Office (FEO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] today.
The MOU would enable the exchange of relevant information and intelligence between the two parties. Through this MOU framework, the parties aim to establish and strengthen cooperation to more effectively perform their respective statutory functions under the Financial Transactions Reporting (FTR) Act, the Electoral Decree 2014 and the Political Parties (Registration, Conduct, Funding and Disclosures) Decree 2013.
The Supervisor of Elections, Mr Mohammed Saneem, said that the MOU will enable FEO to effectively enforce the requirements of the Electoral Decree and the Political Parties Decree.
The Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Mr Razim Buksh, said that the role of the FIU is to ensure transparency of financial transactions and accountability of assets and properties acquired by Fijian nationals and businesses. With the increased focus on financial disclosures of political parties and senior public sector officials, the FIU continues to explore ways and opportunities to scrutinise and verify such disclosures. Mr Buksh said that the idea was also to identify unexplained wealth cases.
In 2012, the FIU included the FEO issued voter registration card as a formal identification document for the purposes of customer identification requirements under the FTR Regulations. The voter registration card has been the most popular and widely accepted ID document for Fijians living in the rural and maritime areas, as well as for small-micro businesses, when opening bank accounts and accessing financial products and services.
The FTR Act enables the FIU to enter into such arrangements as MOUs with key stakeholders and agencies for information exchange which is subject to strict confidentiality and protection of information requirements.