U.S. welcomes Sudan’s removal from money laundering & terrorism financing blacklist
October 29, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The United States Embassy in Khartoum issued a statement on Thursday welcoming Sudan’s removal last week from the list of countries that have deficiencies in their legal and regulatory framework as related to combating money laundering and financing of terrorism.
“Both countries will no longer be subject to the FATF’s monitoring under its on-going global AML/CFT compliance process. Both countries will work with their respective FATF-Style Regional Bodies as they continue to further strengthen their AML/CFT regime” said in a statement.
According to Wall Street Journal, countries that fail to implement FATF’s standards on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing policy run the risk of being labeled as high-risk or uncooperative jurisdictions, making it more costly and difficult for those nations to transact with the banking systems of FATF member states.
The U.S. embassy noted that the U.S. Department of State Country Report on Terrorism in 2014 recognized Khartoum’s continued cooperation with the FATF.
“The rise of violent extremism poses a shared threat to the Sudanese and American people, and to innocent people throughout the world. Now that Sudan has a legal and regulatory framework in place to combat terrorist financing and money laundering, the United States encourages the Government of Sudan to robustly implement its AML/CFT reforms and welcomes the opportunity to work with Sudan on future counterterrorism efforts, such as denying safe haven to terrorists, blocking access to financial resources, and disrupting the flow of foreign fighters”.
Sudan is subject to US economic sanctions since 1997 and is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993.
(ST)