Money laundering: Nepal may soon be in FATF's 'greylist'

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By  India Blooms News Service   Jan 06, 2023

Kathmandu: Experts fear that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) may put Nepal to a greylist as the country is struggling to address a number of deficiencies to comply with the standards on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.

A delegation of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), a FATF-style regional anti-money laundering body, recently concluded a field visit to Nepal as a part of Nepals mutual evaluation, a peer review process to examine whether Nepal complied with a number of standards set by the FATF, reports The Kathmandu Post.

Officials told the newspaper that the APG would only include the progress made till December 16 in its mutual evaluation report, which puts Nepal in a vulnerable position again, and liable to being greylisted if not blacklisted.

Currently, North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar are in the FATF greylist.

Nepal was on the greylist of the FATF from 2008-2014. After a series of progress made on the anti-money laundering regime that includes amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2008, and the enactment of other laws, the FATF finally removed Nepal from the list in 2014, reports The Kathmandu Post.