Nigeria, Myanmar, and Türkiye Take Effective Steps to Meet FATF Recommendations

Myanmar, Nigeria, and Türkiye are implementing effective measures to level up anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks to exit FATF’s grey list.

Nigeria is all set to exit FATF’s grey list. To meet the regulatory requirements, the country has signed MOUs with the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

According to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) statement, these MOUs were systematically designed to facilitate the exchange of information while establishing strategic partnerships to fight money laundering and terrorist financing activities.

Mohammad Shahid Ahmed, the Chief of Staff at NFIU, has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Egmont Group. The Director and CEO of NFIU, Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, is at the forefront of this global campaign, aiming to remove the country from the FATF list. According to the NFIU’s statement, signed by Sani Tukur, head of the strategic communications office, Bakari recently led a powerful delegation at the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), marking his expertise to carry out such activities effectively.

Like Nigeria, Myanmar actively follows and implements the FATF’s Recommendations to avoid being grey-listed. Despite not being an official FATF member country, Myanmar is part of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), a regional regulatory body that oversees financial regulations.

Every country, including Myanmar, must meet the FATF’s 40 Recommendations, covering critical areas like Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Targeted Financial Sanctions linked to proliferation. 

At first, the country was non-compliant with more than 20 out of 40 recommendations; however, it has now successfully met 24 of the FATF’s standards. 

The country’s membership in the APG allowed it to align local regulations with the international AML and CTF standards. Myanmar has already developed a National Action Plan to further implement the recommendations. The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) states that being identified as a high-risk country, the government has strictly prohibited currency market manipulations, and hefty penalties are structured for fraudsters. In 2017, Myanmar was included in the FATF’s high-risk countries subject to rigid inspection in 2023.  Since then, the government has made continuous enhancements to meet the low standards set by FATF. In 2023, APG confirmed that the country had improved 25 standards out of 40 recommendations.

Like other grey-listed countries, the Türkiye government has finally decided to legislate laws concerning digital currencies, with the proposal approved by Parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee. The country has high hopes to exit FATF’s grey list at its annual meeting in Singapore on Jun 28, 2024; however, Ankara has been accused multiple times since 2021 of failing to meet fundamental reforms associated with money laundering and terrorist financing. 

Various reports have surfaced indicating multiple terrorist organizations have been using intermediaries in the country, cash transfer apps, and cryptocurrencies to fund illicit activities. The country has proposed to amend Capital Market Law, introducing a new regulatory framework for Virtual Assets Service Providers (VASPs). Under the new framework, all the crypto assets service providers and platforms will require authorization from the Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (SPK).

However, platforms operating in the country without authorization will be subject to regulatory penalties and imprisonment.

In addition, crypto asset service providers will be held accountable for illicit activities such as money laundering, terrorist financing, or data breaches. At the same time, the board of directors of the alleged platforms will be subject to an embezzlement provision if found guilty.

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