Serious Concerns Over the Ukraine Invasion Situation
[Asia Economy Reporter Sim Nayoung] The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released a statement declaring that Russia, which invaded Ukraine, violated international standards and that measures will be taken. On the 8th, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission reported that it attended the 6th plenary session of the 32nd FATF meeting remotely from the 1st to the 4th and discussed these matters.
The statement expressed "serious concerns about the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing risks, the integrity of the financial system, and economic, safety, and security issues," and stated, "Since Russia's actions constitute a serious violation of the agreement to implement and support FATF international standards, the role of Russia within the organization will be reconsidered."
At this meeting, FATF discussed ▲ revisions to international standards related to beneficial ownership information of legal persons ▲ adoption of a report on migrant smuggling ▲ adoption of amendments to the mutual evaluation methodology and procedures ▲ sanctions against countries not complying with FATF international standards. FATF evaluates each country's implementation of international standards and discusses measures against countries that do not comply.
At this meeting, Iran and North Korea were designated as "high-risk countries with significant deficiencies requiring action." FATF plans to take active countermeasures against these two countries, including effectively suspending transactions and prohibiting foreign financial institutions from establishing overseas offices in these countries. The United Arab Emirates was added to the "Enhanced Follow-Up List" of countries remedying institutional deficiencies compared to the previous meeting, while Zimbabwe was removed.
Accordingly, the Enhanced Follow-Up List includes 23 countries (United Arab Emirates, Albania, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, Jordan, Mali, Malta, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, Yemen, etc.). Singapore was selected as the next FATF chair country.
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