A nine-member board is likely to be set up to oversee the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) under the proposed plan to turn the agency into an independent body.
Amlo secretary-general Seehanart Prayoonrat yesterday said that under the planned restructuring, Amlo will report to a nine-man board, instead of the justice minister, who under the existing law is the agency's supervisor. The proposed board is expected to comprise top officials from various ministries and representatives appointed by parliament, he said.
The details of the planned restructuring were unveiled after acting permanent secretary for justice Chanchao Chaiyanukij confirmed on Wednesday a draft law that could allow Amlo to become an independent body had been approved by the National Council for Peace and Order's (NCPO) legal team.
Pol Col Seehanart defended the proposed restructuring, saying it is not designed to give the agency more powers.
Instead he said it will give the agency the flexibility it needs to operate and to prevent political interference. There have been attempts by politicians to intervene in Amlo, but the existing law has put in place mechanisms to deter such political interference, he said.
Article 61/1 of the Amlo Act threatens a 30-year jail sentence against any political office-holders who abuse Amlo as a tool to intimidate others.
Pol Col Seehanart also said the agency is not adequately equipped with staff to do a proper job, and that is the reason it has attracted criticism from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body setting standards and promoting effective measures to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the international financial system.
He said a new round of evaluations by the FATF is scheduled during 2015-2016. In the assessment the FATF will determine whether the country is sufficiently compliant with the FATF standards.
"The agency being understaffed is a flaw that is cited by the FATF in the previous evaluation," he said.
Pol Col Seehanart said Amlo has been in operation for seven years with funds of one billion baht that cannot be disbursed because the Finance Ministry has been slow to issue a regulation governing the disbursement.
He said the Department of Special Investigation on the other hand, has more than 1,000 staff whose work responsibilities overlap with those of the police.
Pol Col Seehanart said there are about 200 staff at Amlo who are responsible for examining financial transactions from every financial institution.
The agency has 10 analysts whose job is to analyse as many as 1.5 million transactions per month.
"If we want to achieve the goal, we have to be independent and have a free hand in managing resources. We should have at least 2,000 staff," he said.
Pol Col Sihanart said the NCPO has approved 24 million baht for Amlo to spend on the proposed restructuring.