FATF continues suspension of countermeasures against Iran

'Depending upon Iran’s progress in completing its action plan, the FATF will take further steps in June 2018,' the intergovernmental organization in charge of setting global standards on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism has announced in a press release published on its website.

In June 2016, the FATF welcomed Iran’s high-level political commitment to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies and suspended countermeasures for a year. Given Iran's steps in the year after, the organization decided in November 2017 to continue the suspension of countermeasures.

However, Iran's deadline to fulfill its action plan with the FATF passed on Jan. 31 with a number of items remaining incomplete. Therefore the organization has now suspended countermeasures once more, advising Iran to fully address its remaining items.

They include adequately criminalizing terrorist financing, including by removing the exemption for designated groups “attempting to end foreign occupation, colonialism and racism”, identifying and freezing terrorist assets in line with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, ensuring an adequate and enforceable customer due diligence regime, and ensuring the full independence of the Financial Intelligence Unit and requiring the submission of STRs for attempted transactions.

Demonstrating how authorities are identifying and sanctioning unlicensed money/value transfer service providers, ratifying and implementing the Palermo and TF Conventions and clarifying the capability to provide mutual legal assistance, ensuring that financial institutions verify that wire transfers contain complete originator and beneficiary information, establishing a broader range of penalties for violations of the ML offense, and ensuring adequate legislation and procedures to provide for confiscation of property of corresponding value are other remaining items required from Iran by the FATF.
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