A leading expert in international crime Mr. Lee Lamothe recently said Bermuda is ripe to become one of the world's great offshore havens for laundering money. But bankers were quick to refute his claims and quell any community fears. "There's been no money laundering here for umpteen years,'' said Bank of Butterfield president Sir David Gibbons. "Bermuda's not on any list of centres for money laundering and we've attended conferences about it to ensure it doesn't happen.'' Bank of Bermuda president Mr. Charles Vaughan-Johnson said the island's strict enforcement of international regulations such as the Financial Action Task Force and internal measures engaged by the banks had kept the island clean. "We have the strictest regulations and are pretty much untouched by some problems other regimes have had. "We have preventative measures to make sure it does not go on,'' he said. A number of new initiatives are also taking place at present to ensure that money laundering does not happen, according to deputy general manager of the Bermuda Monetary Financial institutions accepting of recently updated Codes of Conduct means the conversion or transfer of property derived from a criminal offence, for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the property or of assisting any person who is involved in the commission of such an offence or offences to evade the legal consequences of his action; the concealment or disguise of the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement, rights with respect to, or ownership of property, knowing that such property is derived from a criminal offence; the acquisition, possession or use of property knowing that at the time of receipt that such property was derived from a criminal offence or from an act of participation in such offence. And with the sophistication of bank, deposit company, credit union, trust company and investment service provider systems today, smart money launderers can hide the identity of funds and make illegal money look legitimate, said Mrs. Woolridge-Allwood. Criminals, especially drug suspects, might use these structures to launder money. But as a result of international initiatives, the Bermuda Monetary Authority has recently introduced an updated Code of Conduct to Assist in the Detection and Disclosure of Information with Respect to the Criminal Use of the Systems Operated by Banks, Deposit Companies, Credit Unions, Trust Companies and Investment Service Providers (Money Laundering). The enhanced Code encompasses recent international initiatives and embodies principles promulgated by the Vienna Convention, the Financial Action Task Force, the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), said Mrs.

Woolridge-Allwood. The issue of the updated Code provides the opportunity to broaden the signatory base by including investment service providers, a growing business in Bermuda, for the first time. At the same time signatories have been provided with more comprehensive guidance notes. The Principles set out in the Code have been accepted by a significant number of financial institutions, including the three banks. And it is anticipated that shortly all such institutions will have signified formal acceptance of the Code. Mrs.

Woolridge-Allwood noted that since the island has become a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, there has been much encouragement to ensure Bermuda's legislative framework is set up to reduce drug related and white collar crime related activities. She added: "Under the Authority Exchange Control Act, a number of cases relating to drug activity have been detected and those cases have been prosecuted by Chambers. "It is, however, the view of the Authority and others involved that a number of offences could be deemed money laundering in relation to illicit drug trafficking.'' But otherwise money laundering has not come to the BMA's attention. It's not happening, said Mrs. Woolridge-Allwood. "We are, however, improving our systems and legislative structures to be the best that we can. The BMA is pleased with new initiatives and so is the market. "Certainly we all see the benefits of keeping Bermuda clean and reputable,'' she said. PHOTO ILLEGAL DOLLARS AND CENTS -- Smart money launderers can hide the identity of funds and make illegal money look legitimate. But Bermuda has taken steps to ensure this doesn't happen.

DOLLARS FOR DRUGS -- Drug suspects use sophisticated bank, credit union, deposit company, trust company and investment systems provider services to hide where illegal funds originally come from to make drug money look legitimate. Shown here are pellets of crack/cocaine.