The body that polices Samoa's offshore finance industry says regulatory changes mean it's now very difficult to channel dirty money into the country.
Samoa's been in the international media spotlight this week due to the massive leak of millions of documents from 14 offshore finance firms, dubbed the Pandora Papers.
One of the firms is Asiaciti Trust and the documents show how its founder, Australian accountant Graeme Briggs, amassed a personal fortune partly by helping high-risk clients keep their private financial dealings out of public view.
Samoa features prominently in Asiaciti's early operations and in one email obtained in the leak a Samoan regulator described Mr Briggs as the "grandfather" of the offshore finance industry.
In another, Asiaciti bragged that Mr Briggs was responsible for the "setting up of the structure and legislation of the Samoa offshore finance centre".
But the Samoa International Finance Industry said the country has been unfairly victimised in the media coverage sparked by the leak.
In a statement SIFA said, "much of the matters raised in the media reports are historical and go back to events that took place in the 1980s and 1990s".
"There have been significant and appropriate regulatory developments since then."
SIFA said Samoa has signed up to tax transparency measures and international requirements for the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing.
"The effect ... is that it is very difficult (if not impossible) to channel illegal activities through Samoa," SIFA said.
"It is unfair and wrong to victimise Samoa by implication as to the alleged activities as widely reported in the media, particularly when Asiaciti has its head office in Singapore and many other offices other than in Samoa."
Photo file Caption: Apia