April 6, 2011, 5:09 p.m. EDT

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/argentina-presses-congress-to-approve-money-laundering-bill-2011-04-06

The administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez called Wednesday for lawmakers to pass an anti-money laundering bill before June, or the country could be blacklisted for having weak financial controls.

The Financial Action Task Force, a 34-nation group that includes the U.S., gave Argentina until June to demonstrate its commitment to beefing up measures against money laundering and terrorism financing after the organization released a damning report last year.

Argentina was profiled by Corruption Currents as a Fallen Angel for falling down on anti-corruption enforcement over the years.

"It's indispensable that this bill be approved as Argentina is being examined like every other country in the world to see if it modernizes its legislation," Justice Minister Julio Alak said in a televised press conference, Dow Jones Newswires' Ken Parks reports.

"It's not the executive branch that will be sanctioned if we don't pass this law, rather the nation of Argentina," Alak warned.

Countries that fail to implement the FATF's recommendations run the risk of being labeled as high risk, making it more difficult for them to conduct business with the economies of compliant nations.

Parks reports that observers don't think much legislation will be passed before elections in October, but the looming blacklisting could prompt the fractious opposition parties to work together with Fernandez's ruling coalition, the FPV.

The FATF report found 962 shortcomings in Argentina's financial system, saying the country was fully compliant with only three of FATF's 49 recommendations. Responding to the report, the country's financial crimes agency, the UIF, issued at least 22 new regulations.

But the agency has only obtained one conviction for money laundering since its founding in 2000, Parks reported.

"It wasn't against a big drug trafficker or a major money laundering institution, rather a steak house owner in Cordoba province," Alak said.