"Financial inclusion, the promotion of financial integrity and the prevention of criminal cash flows go hand in hand. This is, provided that we strike the right balance between security measures and accessibility of formal financial service", Queen Máxima of the Netherlands said Tuesday in Strasbourg.
The queen spoke to the Plenary Meeting of the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism. She did so in her capacity as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.
"At present 2.5 billion adults – that’s half the adults in the world – do without even the most basic financial services that you and I rely on every day. No bank account. No safe way to save money. No safe way to make payments, no insurance. No credit beyond what they can borrow from a loan shark", Máxima told the members of Moneyval. Even for mature economies, ensuring that socially vulnerable categories of the population and small business owners get access to mainstream financial services, is a real challenge."
"Millions of SME’s in developed markets lack the financing they need to grow. Without access to financial services and without adequate financial literacy, small business owners use inefficient tools and are forced to cut back on growth, innovation and efficiency. Consequently, entrepreneurship and employment both suffer and economic development stagnates", she stated in her address.
"And there is even more at stake here. Supporting financial inclusion means also bringing financial transactions under the scrutiny of the authorities. When people are encouraged to transact through the formal financial system, risks of illicit activity - like money laundering and the financing of terrorism - are being reduced."
"There are, no doubt, real concerns to be addressed here. But we should at the same time, be careful not to drive these substantial flows into the informal sector, shielding them from scrutiny. Again, achieving a balance will be the challenge. The issue is: is it effective to confront all households and all businesses with uniform, inflexible identification and verification requirements that many of them cannot meet? Should customers who conduct limited transactions meet the same requirements as customers who conduct large transactions?", the Dutch queen said.
"The ability to combat financial crime is of utmost importance. But we must find the means to continue to do so in an effective manner. And also proportionate to the risks involved, so that financial inclusion and transparency goals are not impeded", she added, asking the members to take this into consideration.
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