Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, underlined India’s political commitment to combating money laundering and terrorist funding, praising the importance of the FATF global network in preserving the global financial system.
Sitharaman made the remarks while attending the FATF Ministerial Meeting, which was held in conjunction with the IMF and World Bank’s Spring Meetings in 2022 to approve the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force’s strategic goals for the years 2022-24.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist funding, and other risks to the international financial system’s integrity.
The finance minister reaffirmed India’s commitment to providing the necessary resources and support to the FATF in its endeavour as a global alliance against money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering, which leads to terror financing, and has been set a deadline of October 2019 to rectify the situation. Since then, Pakistan has been on the FATF’s list due to its inability to comply with FATF rules.
According to the statement, Sitharaman complimented FATF President Marcus Player for his effective advice and leadership during the pandemic’s difficult moments.
Strengthen the FATF Global Network, FATF Mutual Evaluation Systems, Improve International Beneficial Ownership Transparency, Increase Capabilities to more effectively recover Criminal Assets, Leverage Digital Transformation, and Ensure Sustainable Funding for FATF Strategic Priorities, according to the finance ministry on Twitter.
India’s political commitment to combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing was underlined by FM. A series of tweets also praised FATF’s efforts on Beneficial Ownership Transparency and the importance of the FATF worldwide network in preserving the global financial system.
Sitharaman came to Washington on Monday for the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in 2022. The FATF now has 39 members, including the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council, both regional organizations. India is a member of the FATF’s Asia Pacific Group and its discussions.
