Int'l money laundering watchdog blacklists Myanmar
International money-laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Myanmar to a group of high-risk countries, known as the 'black list,' citing its failure to make enough progress in addressing illicit financial flows.
The Southeast Asian nation joins North Korea and Iran, which have been on the high-risk list since 2020, reports Bloomberg.
By being included, entities and people in Myanmar will have to go through more checks from global financial institutions.
In the worst-case scenario, the FATF would instruct countries to take measures to protect the international financial system from money laundering and terrorism financing by persons on the blacklist.
Myanmar is already under a range of punitive measures. Western nations led by the US have imposed rounds of sanctions targeting the coup leaders, related business entities, as well as a group of arms dealers since the 2021 military coup which toppled Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian government.
Pakistan has been taken off a "grey list" of countries that need to be watched more closely for money being used to fund terrorism after the country fixed the technical problems that were holding it back from meeting the goals of its action plans for the strategic problems that the FATF found in June 2018 and June 2021.
