FATF Extends Suspension of Counter-Measures against Iran until October

The FATF said in a statement on Friday that it “is disappointed with Iran’s failure to implement its action plan to address its significant AML/CFT deficiencies.”

However, it added, “given the Iranian government’s continued efforts to finalize and pass amendments to its AML and CFT laws, the FATF decided at its meeting this week to continue the suspension of counter-measures.”

“The FATF urgently expects Iran to proceed swiftly in the reform path to ensure that it addresses all of the remaining items in its Action Plan by completing and implementing the necessary AML/CFT reforms, in particular enacting the necessary legislation,” it added.

“We expect Iran to enact amendments to its AML and CFT laws and ratify the Palermo and TF Conventions in full compliance with the FATF Standards by October 2018, otherwise, the FATF will decide upon appropriate and necessary actions at that time,” it concluded.

The statement comes as Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, recently implied he is opposed to the country’s implementation of the FATF standards, declaring there is no need to join international treaties and conventions that do not serve the country’s national interests.

“Some treaties have useful articles and there’s no problem with joining them. But when we know a treaty or convention has problems and we are not sure where it will take us to, we shouldn’t ratify it just for its positive aspects,” the Leader added.

“The Iranian Parliament itself can pass laws against money laundering and terrorism,” he added.

Iranian lawmakers, earlier this month, agreed that debates on the country’s implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards be put on hold for two months.

They decided that dealing with the FATF issue would be shelved until results of negotiations with Europe on saving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) become clear.

Established in 1989, the Financial Action Task Force is an inter-governmental body with the purpose of setting standards and promoting effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.