Disclosure of assets, bank accounts should be mandatory, says AAP

New Delhi: To curtail flow of black money, the existing law should be amended to make it mandatory for citizens to disclose all their assets and bank accounts in India and abroad, the AAP today said. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AAP leader and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said, “A new law, or an amendment to an existing law (such as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act), requiring all Indian citizens to disclose all their assets and bank accounts in India and abroad needs to be introduced.” [caption id=“attachment_1585283” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] He said such a law would require citizens to annually disclose a full list of their assets and liabilities, including their stakes in companies or trusts registered abroad. Any undisclosed assets should be treated as “proceeds of crime”, he suggested. “Any income or assets that are not disclosed in the required form would be deemed to be proceeds of crime, and included as predicate offences defined under the UNCAC (UN Convention Against Corruption). “This would enable the law enforcement agencies to recover the said assets under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, or the provisions of the UNCAC allowing for seizure and confiscation of assets that are proceeds of crime,” the letter stated. Bhushan also noted that participatory notes and anonymous investment funds should be stopped. “Instruments such as participatory notes and anonymous investments by funds or shell companies need to be disallowed with immediate effect. Every time a company invests in stocks or other financial instruments in the Indian stock exchange or elsewhere, the relevant authority must be able to determine the exact ownership of the investment, ending in the final individuals who hold the money that is being invested. “In the case of investments made in the name of a company or a trust, the major stakeholders of the company, or the trustees of and duly recorded, before the investment is allowed,” he wrote. PTI