Paris: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog against terror financing and money laundering, continued to list North Korea (DPRK), Iran, and Myanmar under blacklist as “high-risk jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action” for severe deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regimes.
The FATF identifies these nations as posing a significant risk to the international financial system because of persistent failures to address illicit financial activity.
The FATF regularly revises its list, but North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar have all remained on it. The public listing of these countries can incentivise financial institutions to shift resources away from them, in turn pressuring domestic actors to improve regulations to comply with FATF standards. Myanmar was placed on the blacklist in October 2022 due to its failure to make sufficient progress on its action plan to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The FATF is urging the country to address its deficiencies and notes that countermeasures may be considered if no further progress is made by October 2025.
“In October 2022, given the continued lack of progress and the majority of its action items still not addressed after a year beyond the action plan deadline, the FATF decided that further action was necessary in line with its procedures and FATF calls on its members and other jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence measures proportionate to the risk arising from Myanmar,” the statement read.
While overall progress continues to be slow, Myanmar recently made progress regarding the management of seized assets to preserve their value until confiscation, but Myanmar should urgently work to implement its FATF action plan to address its strategic deficiencies.
The organisation further called on Myanmar to demonstrate enhanced use of financial intelligence in law enforcement authorities (LEAs) investigations, and increasing operational analysis and disseminations by the financial intelligence unit, ensure that ML is investigated/prosecuted in line with risks; demonstrate investigation of transnational ML cases with international cooperation, and also show an increase in the freezing/seizing and confiscation of criminal proceeds, instrumentalities, and/or property of equivalent value.
Myanmar will remain on the list of countries subject to a call for action until its full action plan is completed.
Iran has not completed its FATF action plan, which expired in 2018. Despite some legislative steps, including ratifying a law related to a UN terror financing convention in October 2025, the FATF maintains that key deficiencies remain unaddressed.
Since February 2020, Iran has reported in January, August and December 2024, and August 2025, with no material changes in the status of its action plan, the FTAF mentioned in an official statement. Given heightened proliferation financing risks, the FATF reiterates its call to apply countermeasures to these high-risk jurisdictions. (IANS)
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