The Financial Action Task Force, an international watchdog, has placed Myanmar on its blacklist for terrorism financing alongside Iran and North Korea.
FATF has recommended that Myanmar be blacklisted immediately and be subject to enhanced due diligence by member states. Officials familiar with its decision in Paris told Nikkei Asia that it stemmed mainly from concerns over Myanmar’s casinos and illicit cross-border trade.
Myanmar becomes only the third country on the blacklist, after Iran and North Korea.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which has its headquarters in Paris, declared that it has placed Myanmar to its list of “high-risk jurisdictions subject to a request for action,” or “blacklist.” It mentioned a lack of progress made by the nation in preventing the financing of terrorism and money laundering.
The FATF is an independent international body whose Secretariat is housed at the OECD. The thirty-one member countries and governments of the FATF are: Argentina; Australia, Austria; Belgium; Brazil; Canada; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Luxembourg; Mexico; the Kingdom of the Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Portugal; the Russian Federation; Singapore; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; United Kingdom; and the United States. The European Commission and the Gulf Co-operation Council are also members of the FATF.
