Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Abderrachid Tabi announced, Wednesday in Algiers, that the bill relating to Money and Credit is”finally ready” and will be presented very soon to parliament.
During a plenary session devoted to the debate on the bill amending and supplementing Law 05-01 relating to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the Minister indicated that “the effective application of this text crucial requires its accompaniment by several legal texts and organizational provisions, in particular the promulgation of the law relating to Money and Credit aimed at eradicating black markets, and protecting currencies and the national economy from this phenomenon”.
And to add that “the text of this project is ready and will very soon be presented to the deputies for debate”.
“It was planned that the discussion of the two projects would take place at the same time.
However, the Money and Credit Bill needed a deeper and broader review, which is why it took more time to draft,” he explained.
The application of the provisions of the bill relating to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism requires “tracing of funds and the fight against sources of illicit financing through a series of measures, in particular the strengthening of the digitization of monetary transactions, which has become one of the most important orientations of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune”, he explained.
To a question on the requalification of money laundering as an offense instead of its criminalization, the Minister of Justice indicated that it aimed to “facilitate the procedures and the acceleration of the deadlines for the judicial treatment of these questions whose bases are often clear.
In addition, Mr. Tabi indicated that the bill in question of a preventive nature was intended to protect the financial system and support the law on investment, because offering “legal mechanisms for the protection of investors’ funds”, and “an appropriate legal climate for tracing financial transactions”.
On efforts to “return embezzled funds,” Tabi said “work is underway and will be announced at a later date.”