BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 18
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
The decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) won’t affect Iran’s trade relations in the current period when the US sanctions are imposed on Iran, Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnaser Hemmati said, Trend reports via Tasnim.
Hemmati noted that 90 percent of Iran’s trade is carried out bypassing sanctions.
The CBI governor added that Iran won’t probably be included in the FATF blacklist, and even if it is, this won’t undermine Iran’s relations with friendly countries.
“Because of the US sanctions against Iran and pressure on Iran-friendly countries, many banks don’t cooperate with Iran,” Hemmati said. “However, since the beginning of this Iranian year (March 21, 2019), $35.5 billion has been provided for imports so far.”
The objectives of FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
During the recent FATF meeting, Iran has been warned that it may be added to the list of non-cooperative countries within three months if it does not completely fulfill the FATF requirements. Iran fulfilled 37 of 41 FATF requirements. The remaining four requirements refer to the legislative field.
The amendments to Counter-Terrorist Financing Act, Anti-Money Laundering Act, Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo) and International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) were prepared by the Iranian government and sent to the parliament.
Although the four conventions have been approved and sent to the Expediency Council of Iran, the CFT and Palermo conventions have not yet been ratified by the Council.
FATF was established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 Group to combat money laundering. FATF has 37 members and its secretariat is in Paris.
Iran was included in the FATF blacklist in 2007. The anti-Tehran steps have been taken since 2009. Thus, the countries were cautious in their financial and banking transactions with Iran.
Taking of reciprocal steps against Iran through diplomatic steps has been postponed since 2016.