“This is a great success for Russia and the international community in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing,” said Jochen Sanio, president of the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering.

Russia has implemented significant reforms to its anti-money laundering system and given strong assurances that it will continue with the reforms until the process is completed. The FATF also removed Dominica, Niue and the Marshall Islands from its list of non-co-operative countries and territories in the fight against money laundering in light of their progress in improving their anti-money laundering systems.

But it also recommended that FATF members impose counter-measures against Nigeria and Ukraine from December 15 unless they enact further anti-money laundering legislation. The other countries on the current list of non-cooperative countries and territories are: Cook Islands; Egypt; Grenada; Guatemala; Indonesia; Myanmar; Nigeria; Philippines; St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

FATF members ask their financial institutions to pay special attention to businesses and transactions with persons, including companies and financial institutions, in listed countries or territories. The FATF will review the list again at its next plenary meeting on 12-14 February 2003.

The FATF is also collaborating with the IMF and the World Bank to assess the countries in the world on their compliance with the FATF Recommendations on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, using a common methodology. A review of the FATF’s Forty Recommendations on combating money laundering is due to be completed in 2003. The FATF is an independent international body whose Secretariat is housed at the OECD.

©OECD Observer No 235, December 2002