Asia Pacific Group on money laundering visits Sri Lanka
In response to an invitation from the Financial Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka, a high-level delegation from the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) visited Sri Lanka to engage with local authorities and provide them with crucial insights regarding the upcoming mutual evaluation of Sri Lanka’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Framework.
The international delegation included: Julien Brazeau, APG Co-Chair and Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of Canada’s Department of Finance in Ottawa within the Financial Sector Policy Branch, Dr. Gordon Hook: Executive Secretary, APG and David Shannon: Director, Mutual Evaluations Quality & Consistency, APG.
The APG is one of the main regional monitoring bodies of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), committed to monitoring and guiding the member jurisdictions in effective implementation of the international standards to combat money laundering (ML), terrorism financing (TF), and proliferation financing associated with weapons of mass destruction (PFWMD).
Approximately 200 countries are affiliated with the nine regional bodies under the FATF’s purview. Sri Lanka is one of the 13 founding members of the APG, since 1997. Sri Lanka was identified as a “Grey List ‘’ country with strategic deficiencies in its AML/CFT Framework twice by the FATF in 2011 and 2017, respectively, subsequent to Sri Lanka’s first and second Mutual Evaluations.
During the 2017 Grey Listing, the European Union also “Black Listed” Sri Lanka for non-compliance with these international standards. In 2019, Sri Lanka was able to exit the Grey List after addressing the gaps in the legal and institutional framework.
Sri Lanka’s 3rd Mutual Evaluation is scheduled in 76 weeks (March 2025). As a nation, it is imperative that Sri Lanka achieves Technical Compliance with the FATF 40 Recommendations and ensure that our AML/CFT framework delivers expected results, as measured by the FATF’s 11 Immediate Outcomes. To this end, there are 24 stakeholders actively engaged in combating ML/TF in the country.
The Financial Intelligence Unit, as the focal point in coordinating efforts, has obtained the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for the stakeholder-wise actions plans aimed at addressing the identified gaps in the AML/CFT Framework. During the 3-day visit, the delegation met with key figures in Sri Lanka, including the President, the Chief Justice, Ministers and other officials.
Sri Lanka is acutely aware of the severe costs incurred by the country due to terrorism, terrorist financing, drug trafficking, corruption, trade-related crimes, and other profit driven criminal activities, including money laundering.
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