Senior members in the Police and Security Forces as politically exposed person

• Autor(a) principal: Gonçalves, Francisco Jorge
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Martins, Verônica
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/40157
• topic: Politically exposed person; Anti-money laundering; Terrorism financing; Police and security forces; High-ranking officers; Pessoa politicamente exposta; Combate ao branqueamento de capitais; Financiamento do terrorismo; Forças e serviços de segurança; Oficiais generais

The combat of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing has been a goal pressed by numerous governments around the world especially after 9/11. It is assumed that certain individuals, because they were entrusted with prominent public functions, present a higher risk for potential involvement: hence the designation “Politically Exposed Person” (PEP). Since the first anti-money laundering directive, only High-Ranking Officers in the Armed Forces are qualified as PEP. However, senior members in the Police and Security Forces, services that are generally headed by civilians, are also entrusted with prominent public functions. This paper will analyse the importance of PEP as a tool for fighting terrorism financing and whether senior members in the Police and Security Forces are qualified as PEP in six countries. The findings show that most countries do not qualify senior members of the Police and Security Forces as PEP, which may represent a security breach regarding terrorism financing. Likewise, this critique may guide policy makers to include senior members of Police and Security forces as PEP.