Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.25
By Ilaha Mamedli - Trend:
Financial Monitoring Service (FMS) under the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has reduced and made changes to the list of states, as well as countries possibly involved in the laundering of money and other property, financing of terrorism, illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, supporting of transnational organized crime, including armed separatism, and extremism, states the order of the head of the Financial Monitoring Service published on its website.
According to the updated list, Guatemala, and the islands of Nauru, and Niue were excluded and Belize and the Co-operative Republic of Guyana were added.
At present, the list approved by the FMS consists of 16 countries - Iran, Armenia, Belize, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Democratic People's Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, Liberia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The most significant changes were made to the list approved by the second of March, 2010, whereby the number of countries decreased from 46 to 33. Other solutions to reduce the list of countries of the specified category were later adopted, too. A number of countries that were previously in the approved list were excluded as a result of implementation of the commitments set by FATF (Financial Action on Anti-Money Laundering) and other international organizations.
During compiling of the list the declarations and decisions of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the IMF, FATF, MONEYVAL and other international organizations were taken into account.
Under current legislation, monitoring entities should identify the purpose and nature of the illegal transactions with cash and other property transactions with the countries included in the list, and immediately inform FMS about the transactions with these countries.
Financial Monitoring Service under the CBA was established in accordance with the Decree of the President Ilham Aliyev on February 23, 2009. Monitoring Service covers the activities of credit, insurance and reinsurance organizations, professional participants of the securities market, pawnshops, investment funds, non-governmental organizations, transactions with precious metals and stones, purchase of their products, the activities of non-governmental and religious organizations, organizers of lotteries, persons providing services of purchase and sale of real estate, as well as lawyers, accountants, real estate transactions, client money, securities and property, client bank and deposit accounts.
