By Jack Brodie, Editor-in-Chief | Jun 28, 2024 | Finance
Monaco’s government has declared its firm commitment to exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, adhering to a stringent timetable established during the recent plenary meeting in Singapore. This move underscores the Principality’s dedication to addressing international concerns regarding its financial practices.
The FATF’s official declaration recognized Monaco’s substantial progress since Moneyval’s recommendations were issued in January of the previous year. Key advancements include the enhancement of counter-terrorism financing measures, the establishment of a new supervisory and financial intelligence authority, the implementation of targeted financial sanctions, and the improvement of risk-based supervision of associations.
A detailed timetable, spanning 18 months until January 2026, has been set, with intermediate milestones in May and September of the following year. Monaco is determined to comply with the latest FATF recommendations within these specified deadlines.
The FATF declaration states: “In June 2024, Monaco made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and Moneyval to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Since the adoption of its mutual evaluation report (MER) in December 2022, Monaco has made significant progress on several of the MER’s recommended actions including by establishing a new combined financial intelligence unit (FIU) and AML/CFT supervisor, strengthening its approach to detecting and investigating terrorism financing, implementing targeted financial sanctions, and risk-based supervision of non-profit organizations.
Monaco will continue to work with FATF to implement its action plan by: (1) strengthening the understanding of risk in relation to money laundering and income tax fraud committed abroad; (2) demonstrating a sustained increase in outbound requests to identify and seek the seizure of criminal assets abroad; (3) enhancing the application of sanctions for AML/CFT breaches and breaches of basic and beneficial ownership requirements; (4) completing its resourcing program for its FIU and strengthening the quality and timeliness of STR reporting; (5) enhancing judicial efficiency, including through increasing resources of investigative judges and prosecutors and the application of effective, dissuasive, and proportionate sanctions for money laundering; and (6) increasing the seizure of property suspected to derive from criminal activities.”
The Principality’s government remains resolute in its efforts to align with global standards and ensure the integrity of its financial system. The steps outlined in the action plan reflect Monaco’s proactive stance in combating money laundering and terrorism financing, thereby reinforcing its commitment to maintaining a robust and transparent financial environment.
