Newsletter 89 from April 29, 2009 International Sanction

Newsletter 89 - Statement by the Financial Action Task Force of February 25, 2009 with regard to Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, São Tomé and Príncipe - In a statement issued on February 25, 2009, the FATF informs of deficiencies that still remain in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism regimes in Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, São Tomé and Príncipe. The statement especially emphasises the respective risks from Iran and Uzbekistan. As regards Iran, the FATF also urges states to protect against correspondent bank relationships being used to bypass or evade counter measures and risk mitigation practices and to take account of money laundering /financial terrorism risks when considering requests by Iranian financial institutions to open branches and subsidiaries. FINMA asks financial intermediaries to take account of the FATF statement concerning the above mentioned countries when evaluating the money laundering and terrorist finance risks according to the Swiss Money Laundering Act (SR 955.0) and its executive ordinances. Furthermore, FINMA calls on the banks to take account of the FATF statement concerning Iran when applying Article 17 GwV- FINMA 1 (SR 955.022) to their correspondent bank relationships with foreign financial institutions. FINMA also urges the self regulating organizations pursuant to the Swiss Money Laundering Act to take account of the FATF statement when considering requests by Iranian financial institutions to open new branches or subsidiaries in Switzerland. Please consult the FATF website for details of the FATF statement: http://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/18/28/42242615.pdf - Also, please take note of the Moneyval (regional organization of the FATF including several members of the Council of Europe) communications concerning Azerbaijan: http://www.fatf-gafi.org/dataoecd/41/41/42406214.pdf and http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/moneyval/About/MONEYVALstatement-AZ_en.pdf