Four jurisdictions, including the Cayman Islands and Morocco, will come under greater control as they face pressure from a global watchdog to address shortcomings in their anti-money laundering efforts.
The Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based organization that sets laws against money laundering, added Burkina Faso, the Cayman Islands, Morocco and Senegal to its list of jurisdictions under higher control on Thursday. joined 15 more countries. The deficiencies identified vary for each jurisdiction, but include maintaining fully beneficial ownership information and expanding the operations of countries ’financial intelligence units, according to the FATF.
For example, the FATF in a report said that the Cayman Islands government should impose effective administrative sanctions and enforcement actions against entities involved in money laundering violations, as well as apply appropriate sanctions in cases where effective and timely proprietary information is not provided.
“The Cayman Islands are an important financial center; we expect countries with higher risks, we expect proportionate measures against these risks, “FATF President Marcus Pleyer said on Thursday during a virtual press conference.
If added to the so-called “gray list”, the four countries and territories will collaborate with the FATF in plans to address identified deficiencies in their counter-terrorism financing regimes within the agreed deadlines and subject to additional controls. say the FATF.
Pakistan, another gray list country, has made significant progress in improving its frameworks to combat illicit financing, including demonstrating that its police agencies were identifying and investigating terrorist financing activities and taking measures to combat them. application against violations of specific financial sanctions, said FATF. a report. But Pakistan will remain on the list to increase control; according to the FATF, the country has yet to address the shortcomings related to terrorist financing.
The Monetary Authority of the Cayman Islands and the Washington embassies for Morocco, Senegal and Pakistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FATF, which evaluates anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws in 205 jurisdictions around the world, said the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted its country assessments, delaying some of its on-site reviews. .
“The FATF continues to monitor the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing related to Covid-19 financial crimes,” Pleyer said.
The organization, however, was able to virtually discuss a mutual evaluation report on New Zealand, Pleyer said. After 14 months of work, the watchdog found that New Zealand’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing are going well, especially in the areas of confiscation and recovery of criminal proceeds and international cooperation. But the country needs to focus on improving the availability of beneficial property information, according to the FATF.
The FATF also plans to publish an update of its 2019 guidelines on cryptocurrency regulations. The current guidance states that countries should adopt regulations that require virtual currency companies, including exchange and portfolio providers, to collect information about their clients and share it with other institutions, including other cryptocurrency companies. , who receive funds transfers.
The organization said that while the public and private sectors have made progress in implementing the necessary measures related to cryptocurrency, it also revealed the need to orient itself to address specific areas. The FATF plans to publish the draft in March for public consultation and expects to approve the final guidance in June.
“We welcome the FATF’s actions to improve operational efforts designed to identify terrorist financiers and develop additional guidance in consultation with the private sector on virtual assets and proliferation financing, two key U.S. priorities,” the secretary said. of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, in a statement Thursday.
Write to Mengqi Sun at [email protected]
Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8