Six countries off FATF blacklist
The OECD-sponsored Financial Action Task Force has removed four countries from its blacklist of territories not cooperating in the fight to end money laundering.
The countries dropped from the list, released today as part of its thirteenth annual report, are Hungary, Israel, Lebanon and St Kitts and Nevis. The FATF added that all of them would be closely monitored.
The current list includes: Cook Islands, Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Guatemala, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Nauru, Nigeria, Niue, Philippines, Russia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Ukraine.
In its report the FATF called on its members to update their advisories and give special attention to businesses and persons undertaking transactions in blacklisted countries and territories.
The body also announced that more than 50 countries had begun a voluntary self-assessment exercise aimed at countering terror financing. This will be used to assess which financial centres lack adequate resources to fight such financing.
FATF president Claire Lo said: ‘We are very encouraged by the participation of non-FATF countries in this exercise and we will work to ensure that countries that have not yet replied to the questionnaire do so by 1 September.’