The competent authorities of Investigation Bureau, Ministry of
Justice, Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Republic of Palau
Financial Institutions Commission, the Republic of Palau Financ-
ial Intelligence Unit hereafter referred to as "the Authorities"
, desire, in a spirit of cooperation and mutual interest, to fa-
cilitate the investigation and prosecution of persons suspected
of money laundering, terrorist financing and criminal activity
related to money-laundering.
To that end they have reached the following understanding:
1.The Authorities will cooperate to assemble, develop and analy-
ze information in their possession concerning financial trans-
actions suspected of being related to money laundering, finan-
cing of terrorism or criminal activities connected with money
laundering. To that end, the Authorities shall exchange spont-
aneously or upon request any available information that may be
relevant to the investigation by the Authorities into financi-
al transactions related to money laundering and the persons or
companies involved. Any request for information will be justi-
fied by a brief statement of the underlying facts. Such state-
ments shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed by
the receiving Authority except upon permission of the sending
Authority.
2.The information or documents obtained from the respective Aut-
horities will not be disseminated to any third party, nor be
used for administrative, prosecutorial or judicial purposes
without prior consent of the disclosing Authority, save and
except that such information and documents may be disclosed
for exculpatory purposes. If such information and documents
are to be disclosed for exculpatory purposes, the disclosing
Authority shall endeavor to provide the providing Authority
with notice of the disclosure and an opportunity to object. It
is understood that information obtained in accordance with th-
is Agreement can only be used in connection with investigatio-
ns related to money laundering originating from specific cate-
gories of criminal activity and the financing of terrorism.
The predicate offenses for the offense of money laundering are
defined as acts that would be criminal offenses under both ju-
risdictions penal laws, had the offense been committed in that
jurisdiction.
3.The Authorities shall not permit the use or release of any in-
formation or documents obtained from the respective Authoriti-
es for purpose other than those stated in this Agreement, wit-
hout the prior consent of the disclosing Authority.
4.The information and documents acquired in application of the
present Agreement are confidential. They are subject to offic-
ial secrecy and are protected by at least the same confidenti-
ality as provided by the national legislation of the receiving
Authority for similar information and documents from national
sources. The Authorities explicitly warrant and agree that su-
ch information and documents are not subject to any "sunshine
provisions". Notwithstanding the termination of the Agreement,
this provision shall remain in application.
5.The Authorities shall jointly arrange, consistent with the le-
gislation of their respective countries, for acceptable proce-
dures of communication and shall consult each other with the
purpose of implementing this Agreement.
6.Communication between the Authorities shall as far as possible
take place in English.
7.The Authorities are under no obligation to give assistance if
judicial proceedings have already been initiated concerning
the same facts as the request is related to.
8.This Agreement may be amended at any time by mutual consent.
9.This Agreement is revocable at any time. The termination shall
become effective as from the receipt of the written notificat-
ion from the other Authority.
10.This Agreement shall become effective upon the signature by
the Authorities.
Signed at Conference Room of Ministry of Justice, the Republic
of Palau on 3, March, 2005, in the Chinese and English languages
, both texts being equally authentic.
Director General Vice President of the
Investigation Bureau, Republic of Palau and
Ministry of Justice, Minister of Justice
Republic of China Republic of Palau
(Taiwan)
...................... ........................
Cherng-maw Yeh Elias Camsek Chin