The private sector has demanded the government introduce a programme under which people could self-declare their property.

The Anti-Money Laundering Act has provisioned action against people failing disclose the the source of their property.

“The government should introduce a programme allowing people to declare their property without paying a single penny,” said Pradeep Jung Pandey, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( FNCCI ), speaking at an event organised by Finance Ministry here on Sunday.

Industrialist Diwakar Golchha said property of businessmen is not transparent as hardly 1 percent of them have maintained a managed accounting system. “It gives first-time data to the government about the property status of the people.”

He said there should a separate Act to implement such a programme as incorporating the issue in the Financial Act alone may not solve the problem.

President of Nepal Chambers of Commerce Suresh Kumar Basnet said the Anti-Money Laundering Act was dangerous given it has defined financial crimes as an act of money laundering. “Such a provision should not have been included in the Act,” he said.

Finance Secretary Yubaraj Bhusal said the government was holding discussions to introduce a programme enabling people to self-declare their property. “The Act has also been introduced with an objective of not giving any exemption to criminals and saving good people from penalty.”

Nepal Rastra Bank Govenor Yuiaraj Khatiwada said the Act was prepared as per the international standards although there might be some issues that could be improved.

source: the kathmandu post,7 july 2014