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G20 summit: India presents 9-point agenda on fugitive economic offenders
News:
- India submitted a nine-point agenda for dealing with fugitive economic offenders at G-20 summit.
Important Facts:
- Actions included under the nine-point action agenda:
- i) Strong and active cooperation across G-20 countries to deal comprehensively and efficiently with the menace fugitive economic offenders.
- ii) Cooperation in the legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of crime, early return of the offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of crime should be enhanced and streamlined.
iii) A joint effort by G-20 countries to form a mechanism that denies entry and safe havens to all fugitive economic offenders.
- iv) Principles of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNOTC), especially related to “International Cooperation” should be fully and effectively implemented.
- v) Financial Action Task Force (FATF) should be called upon to assign priority and focus to establishing international co-operation that leads to the timely and comprehensive exchange of information between the competent authorities and Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs).
- vi) FATF should be tasked to formulate a standard definition of fugitive economic offenders.
vii) FATF should also develop a set of commonly agreed and standardized procedures related to identification, extradition and judicial proceedings for dealing with fugitive economic offenders to provide guidance and assistance to G-20 countries, subject to their domestic law.
viii) The common platform should be set up for sharing experiences and best practices including successful cases of extradition, gaps in existing systems of extradition and legal assistance etc.
- ix) G-20 Forum should consider initiating work on locating properties of economic offenders who have a tax debt in the country of their residence for its recovery.
- Background: In November last year, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London ruled against India which was trying to extradite bookie Sanjeev Kumar Chawla and an Indian couple, Jatinder and Asha Rani Angurala. India has suggested a nine-point action plan for strong and active cooperation across G-20 countries to deal comprehensively and efficiently with the menace fugitive economic offenders.
- Other challenges highlighted at the G-20 summit:
- The threat of increasing financial vulnerabilities, mainly arising from monetary policies of advanced economies and oil price volatility.
- Unsynchronized policies of advanced economies and the uneven pace of revival of economies of various countries.
- Escalating trade tensions and its resultant and collateral damages it caused to the least developed countries and other emerging economies.
- Reformation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and dialogue on trade and service in promoting global value chain in the agricultural sector.
About FATF: The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
About G-20:
- Formed in 1999, the G20 is an international forum of the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies.
- Collectively, the G20 economies account for around 85 percent of the Gross World Product (GWP), 80 percent of world trade.
- The G20 has no permanent staff of its own and its chairmanship rotates annually between nations divided into regional groupings.
- It aims to preempt balance of payments problems and turmoil on financial markets by improved coordination of monetary, fiscal, and financial policies.
- The forum seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organisation.
- The members of the G20 consist of 19 individual countries plus the European Union (EU) which are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
- The 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit will be the 13th meeting of Group of Twenty (G20). It is being held in 2018 in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It will be the first-ever G20 summit to be hosted in South America.
- G20 Argentina has put forth three agenda priorities for the G20 dialogue in 2018, i.e., the future of work, infrastructure for development and a sustainable food future.
- India will host the G20 Summit in 2022, the year New Delhi celebrates its 75th Independence Day.
