Tehran, Iran, March 22
Trend:
The removal of Iran from the black list of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) didn’t have any positive impact on Iranian economy, Iranian MP Seyed Hossein Naghavi Hosseini said in an interview with Trend.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the Ministers of its Member jurisdictions. The objectives of the 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. The FATF is therefore a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.
The FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures, and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures globally. In collaboration with other international stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.
"Iran was removed from FATF black list in 2016. What were the achievements of all these interactions, passing the FATF-related bills and removing from the black list during these past three years? Our financial and money system are still locked and the oil exports revenues have not returned. The US re-imposed sanctions, while the EU is not committed to its vows. So what was the result of removing Iran from FATF black list is that we got more obligations,” said the MP.
The passing of CFT and Palermo bills means more commitment, since it has been proven that they would not bring any positive results, but tie Iran’s hands, Hosseini believes.
“In the current situation, we are under pressure of sanctions and need freedom to act. If we join these conventions, we will face more limits, " he added.
Responding to the question whether joining FATF was effective in terms of returning oil export revenues, he said it had no effect, as the country could not return “even one dollar”, since no banking system had worked with Iran and the situation was the same as in 2016.
"FATF constantly threatens Iran and gives us deadline, saying if you do not abide by the obligations, you will be returned to the black list. It had no effect on banks and financial institutes and the Europeans implemented their sanctions against us, prevented our transactions and controlled everything," he said.
Hosseini said that if the global banking system does not work with Iran, it is due to the US sanctions, but not the FATF.
"The banking systems are not working with Iran even if the country joins the FATF. Banks say they do not work with Iran due to the US sanctions, but not for CFT and FATF, " he added.
The MP went on to add that accession to the CFT might have psychological effect on Tehran's market for a month or so, but there won't be any change in reality.
“After two months, the USD rate will jump. Joining the convention practically will bring no achievements for us, but only limits and new commitments,” he added.