Sri Lanka lacks policies to tackle money laundering and terror financing, says watchdog
January 5, 2019 08:48 am
The Reserve Bank of India said inter-governmental body Financial Action Task Force has called on its members to take steps to protect the financial system from threats emanating from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
According to the top bank, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been included in a list of nations with “strategic deficiencies” in their approach towards anti-money laundering measures and the crackdown on financing of terrorism.
The Financial Action Task Force, set up in 1989, works to stop money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the international financial system.
The task force has listed the Bahamas, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Serbia, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen as other countries that need to crack down on money laundering and terror financing.
The organisation also said Iran is “subject to a FATF call on its members to apply enhanced due diligence measures”.
The inter-governmental organisation said Sri Lanka has taken steps since November 2017 to meet its demands.
“Sri Lanka should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by enhancing risk-based supervision high-risk Designated Non-Financial Business or Profession, including through prompt and dissuasive enforcement actions and sanctions, as appropriate; and demonstrating effective implementation of its targeted financial sanctions obligations related to proliferation financing,” the statement said.
-Agencies
