Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct 22: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a group that monitors money laundering and terrorism financing, has placed Myanmar on its ‘black list’ and urged its members to exercise increased due diligence when dealing with and transacting business in Myanmar.
The ‘black list’ of high-risk jurisdictions maintained by the FATF now includes Myanmar. The FATF blacklist, formally known as High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, lists countries with lax regulatory frameworks for countering money laundering and terrorism financing.
Myanmar pledged to resolve its strategic shortcomings in February 2020. The action plan for Myanmar ran out in September 2021.
In June 2022, the FATF sternly warned Myanmar that if it didn’t finish its action plan by October 2022, it would be forced to call on its members and urge all governments to conduct increased due diligence when dealing with the country.
The FATF stated that it considered that more action was required in accordance with its processes given the ongoing lack of progress and the fact that the majority of its action items were remained unaddressed after a year had passed the action plan deadline. FATF urged its members and other governments to take increased due diligence precautions appropriate to the risk associated with Myanmar.
Pakistan’s name has finally been removed off the “grey list” of a global watchdog four years after it was added for supporting terrorism and money laundering.
The watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), noted that in addition to addressing technical issues, Pakistan has improved its anti-money laundering system and tried to stop the financing of terrorism.
Being on the grey list made it difficult for Pakistan to receive financial assistance from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and European Union. As a result, these organisations performed more inspections before transferring any money to Islamabad, which aggravated its inflation and infrastructure-related issues.
“Pakistan exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. I would like to congratulate our civil and military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to today’s success,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the move in a tweet.
