Global watchdog gives Iran until June to strengthen anti-money laundering rules
PARIS - Iran has until June to fix its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules or face increased international scrutiny of its banks, a global watchdog said on Friday.
Last October, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) watchdog had already given Iran until February to complete an action plan of reforms that would bring it in line with global norms, or face consequences.
The FATF concluded this week at a meeting that "there are still items not completed" and said in a statement it "expects Iran to proceed swiftly in the reform path".
If the shortcomings were not remedied by June, currently suspended countermeasures would automatically kick in, said Marshall Billingslea, the U.S. assistant Treasury Secretary for terrorist financing, after chairing the FATF meeting "That is a significant indication from the FATF that time has expired, the action plan is overdue and we expect it to be implemented without delay," Billingslea told journalists.
