Ounce of prevention or pound of cure?

RIGA(BNS) - Latvian and Finnish authorities fighting against legalization of illegal proceeds signed a cooperation agreement this week in Riga, the Latvian Service for Prevention of Illegally Obtained Proceeds said Nov. 26. Latvia has an agreement with other countries, but they are secret.

Viesturs Burkans, the head of the service, said that Finalnd was the fifth country to sign such an agreement with Latvia. He refused to name other states. If such information is made public, it could help criminals to aviod attempts by law enforcement to block laundering dirty money, Burkans explained.

Under the agreement, Latvia and Finland will exchange information and cooperate in other ways. The document will enable the parties to prevent the legalization of illegal proceeds in each other's territory.

Burkans said that for Latvia this agreement carried a special weight, because Finland currently held the European Union presidency.

By signing the agreement, it was recognized that Latvian law enables a fight against money laundering, and Latvia could be regarded as a full partner.

"The signing of such cooperation agreements does not happen so quickly and so easily," Burkans stressed.