Nepal’s anti-money laundering committee will finalize and implement an action plan designed to have the country removed from an international grey list of nations under increased scrutiny, the Ministry of Finance has revealed.
Nepal was one of two countries – alongside Laos – added to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list during a meeting in Paris in February due to a need to address weaknesses within its financial sector among others.
Specifically, the FATF said Nepal must improve its understanding of key money laundering and terrorism financing risks and its supervision of commercial banks, higher risk cooperatives, casinos, DPMS and the real estate sector.
It should also enhance the capacity and coordination of competent authorities to conduct money laundering investigations, demonstrate an increase in money laundering investigations and prosecutions, demonstrate measures to identify, trace, restrain, seize and confiscate proceeds and instrumentalities of crime in line with the risk profile, and more.
Nepal’s Anti Money Laundering Prevention Directorate Committee said this week it has decided to finalize and implement an action plan to remove Nepal from the grey list within the next two years and develop a long-term strategy to avoid returning to the list in the future.
Details of the committee’s plans remain light, however.
Nepal was previously removed from the FATF’s grey list in 2014 but returned this year due to lapses in effective implementation of corresponding laws, according to local media commentary.
As reported by IAG, the Philippines was recently removed from the grey list after it was deemed to have made positive progress in addressing the strategic anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CTF) and counter-proliferation financing (CPF) deficiencies previously identified during mutual evaluations.
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