Home inContext Anti-Money Laundering Body Slaps Iran

Anti-Money Laundering Body Slaps Iran

Jonathan Schanzer
SOURCE

Deficiencies in Iran’s system of combating money laundering and terror financing pose risks to the international financial system, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) intergovernmental body said last week.

According to an article in the Lebanon Daily Star, FATF is concerned about “Iran’s lack of a comprehensive anti-money laundering/ combating the financing of terrorism [AML/CFT] regime represents a significant vulnerability within the international financial system.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he was pleased with the statement, which heaped a little more international pressure upon Iran, which is already facing criticism over its development of a nuclear program.

For more on the U.S. Treasury’s efforts to punish Iran, read our inFocus Quarterly interview with Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey, the top terrorism finance official in the country.