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FATF Chairman T Raja Kumar told a news conference on Friday that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to impose additional restrictions, including a ban on Russia’s participation in current and future projects.
Due to the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unnecessary loss of life in the country, Russia has been restricted from participating in meetings of FATF’s regional partner bodies as a task force member.
“The FATF has repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Following this week’s plenary discussions, the FATF has decided to impose additional restrictions, including banning Russia from participating in current and future projects and participating as a FATF member in meetings of FATF’s regional partner bodies,” FATF Chairman T Raja Kumar said.
Rajakumar made the remarks at a press conference following the two-day FATF plenary meeting that ended on Friday.
As Russia’s aggression escalated the war in Ukraine, the country’s actions continued to violate the FATF’s core principles aimed at promoting the security and integrity of the financial system.
Additionally, following the plenary, the task force decided to impose additional restrictions on the country’s remaining roles, including banning them from participating in current and future FATF projects. The measures extend to actions taken by the FATF in June that stripped Russia of all leadership roles, among other restrictions.
On the other hand, the FATF has blacklisted Myanmar after global regulators expressed concern about the lack of progress made in its action plan. The country failed to complete its action plan, which expired completely last year. In addition, Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remain on the blacklist.
According to the statement concluded by the FATF Chair, FATF noted the progress Nicaragua has made in improving the elements of the AML/CFT regime covered by its Action Plan. However, FATF expresses strong concern about the possible misuse of FATF standards resulting in the suppression of Nicaragua’s non-profit sector.
Additionally, Pakistan is no longer on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “grey list” as global regulators have welcomed the significant progress Pakistan has made in improving its AML/CFT regime.
The global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog said after its plenary meeting that Pakistan has strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime and addressed technical deficiencies to meet its commitments in its action plan on strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF.
Pakistan “is no longer subject to FATF’s enhanced surveillance procedures; continuing to work with APG to further improve it is AML/CFT,” the regulator said.
Pakistan has been greylisted by Paris regulators since June 2018 for deficiencies in its anti-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering regimes. The greylisting adversely affects its imports, exports and remittances, and limits its access to international loans.
At its June plenary meeting, the FATF kept Pakistan on its grey list and said a final decision to remove it from the list would be made after an “on-site” verification visit.
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