News
FATF Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions published on 23 Oct 2020
06 Nov 2020
The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”), the global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”), published the following documents on 23 October 2020:
(1) FATF Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action
- On 2 August 2020, the FATF decided to pause the review process for the list of high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action. The FATF therefore asks member jurisdictions to refer to the Statement on High-Risk Jurisdictions adopted in February 2020 (“the Statement”) (http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/high-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/documents/call-for-action-february-2020.html). While the statement may not necessarily reflect the most recent status of AML/CFT regime in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”) and Iran, the FATF’s call for action on these high-risk jurisdictions remains in effect.
- The FATF calls on its members and urges all jurisdictions, which we hereby do, to advise you to give special attention to business relationships and transactions with the DPRK, including DPRK companies, Financial Institutions and those acting on their behalves.
- The FATF calls on its members and urges all jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures, which we hereby do, and advise you to apply enhanced due diligence measures, including obtaining information on the reasons for intended transactions, business relationships and transactions with natural and legal persons from Iran; conducting enhanced monitoring of business relationships, by increasing the number and timing of controls applied, and selecting patterns of transactions that need further examination.
(2) Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring
- As part of its ongoing review of compliance with the AML/CFT standards, FATF identified 16 jurisdictions (Albania, The Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe) with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies.
- Iceland and Mongolia are no longer subject to the FAFT’s increased monitoring process for their significant progress in improving their AML/CFT regimes.
- The FATF encourages members to consider the information presented in the 23 October 2020 issue of “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” which sets out the high-level political commitment provided by each of the jurisdictions in question to address the identified deficiencies, including to (i) ensure the timely access to adequate, accurate and current basic and beneficial ownership information; (ii) ensure the implementation without delay of targeted financial sanctions measures related to terrorist financing and proliferation financing; (iii) establish procedures to identify and freeze terrorist assets; (iv) apply a risk-based approach for monitoring non-profit organisations to prevent abuse for terrorist financing purposes; and (v) improve customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting requirements, etc.
As licensed trust or company service providers are required to comply with relevant AML/CFT requirements, would be grateful if you would duly take note of the concerns and observations made by the FATF in the above documents.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.