Singapore, The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday adopted a mutual evaluation report assessing the effectiveness of India's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime, a move hailed by the government as a " important milestone".
In its brief concluding statement at the end of its three-day plenary meeting here, the global body said India's legal regime in these two areas was "achieving good results" and that the country had achieved a "high level of technical compliance " with the FATF Requirements.
However, he said the country needs to address "delays" related to the conclusion of money laundering and terrorist financing proceedings. The final assessment report for the country will be published later, when the "quality review" is completed. and coherence," he said.
Sources involved in the process said India has been placed in the "regular monitoring" category, a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries, meaning it must submit a progress report on the implementation of the recently concluded FATF measures. in October 2027.
Countries classified in the 'enhanced monitoring' category are required to submit a monitoring report each year. The Paris-based body leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorism and proliferation financing. The latest decisions were made public at the end of the FATF plenary session from June 26 to 28.
The Indian side was represented by Additional Secretary, Union Finance Ministry and Director-in-Charge, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Vivek Aggarwal.
In New Delhi, the Union Finance Ministry issued a statement saying that the FATF's positive assessment of India was an important milestone in the country's efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. India's FATF mutual evaluation demonstrates the overall stability and integrity of the financial system, the ministry said.
India's mutual evaluation on FATF guidelines, a measure that verifies a country's effectiveness in formulating sound laws and policies and implementing them to control financial crimes, was last conducted in 2010.
A FATF peer review of India was completed earlier this year after a team of international experts conducted an "on-site" or physical visit to New Delhi and met officials from various central and state intelligence services, agencies of investigation, financial regulators and the judiciary. The statement issued at the end of the plenary session said that it was concluded that India has achieved a high level of technical compliance with FATF requirements and that its AML/CFT/CPF regime is achieving good results. results, including in their understanding of the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. , international cooperation, access to basic and beneficial information, use of financial intelligence and deprivation of assets from criminals and anti-proliferation financing measures.
AML means anti-money laundering, CFT means anti-terrorist financing, and CPF means anti-proliferation financing.
The statement, however, added that India needed "improvements" to strengthen supervision and implementation of preventive measures in some of the non-financial sectors. "India also needs to address delays related to the conclusion of money laundering proceedings and terrorist financing, and ensure that CFT measures aimed at preventing the non-profit sector from being abused for terrorist financing are implemented in accordance with the risk-based approach, including by carrying out outreach activities with non-profit organisations. about their terrorist financing risks," he said.
The government said India's performance in the FATF mutual evaluation "accumulates significant benefits for our growing economy as it demonstrates the overall stability and integrity of the financial system."
"Good ratings will lead to better access to global financial markets and institutions and increase investor confidence. They will also help in the global expansion of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India's fast payments system," he said.The Finance Ministry said this FATF recognition was a "testament to the rigorous and effective measures implemented by India over the last 10 years to safeguard its financial system from ML/TF threats."
"It underlines the country's commitment to international standards and its proactive stance in the global fight against financial crimes," he said, adding that this also sets a benchmark for "countries in our region" to effectively implement international standards on financing of terrorism.
The ministry said that with this adoption, the FATF has recognized India's efforts to mitigate risks arising from money laundering and terrorist financing, including laundering of proceeds from corruption, fraud and organized crime. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the FATF has given a good and surprising result for India. "It's a significant achievement in that sense."
Also highlighted are the effective measures implemented by India for the transition from a cash-based economy to a digital economy to reduce these risks and the implementation of JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) Trinity, along with strict regulations on cash transactions, has led to a significant increase in financial inclusion and digital transactions, as these measures make transactions more traceable, he said.
In its brief concluding statement at the end of its three-day plenary meeting here, the global body said India's legal regime in these two areas was "achieving good results" and that the country had achieved a "high level of technical compliance " with the FATF Requirements.
However, he said the country needs to address "delays" related to the conclusion of money laundering and terrorist financing proceedings. The final assessment report for the country will be published later, when the "quality review" is completed. and coherence," he said.
Sources involved in the process said India has been placed in the "regular monitoring" category, a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries, meaning it must submit a progress report on the implementation of the recently concluded FATF measures. in October 2027.
Countries classified in the 'enhanced monitoring' category are required to submit a monitoring report each year. The Paris-based body leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorism and proliferation financing. The latest decisions were made public at the end of the FATF plenary session from June 26 to 28.
The Indian side was represented by Additional Secretary, Union Finance Ministry and Director-in-Charge, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Vivek Aggarwal.
In New Delhi, the Union Finance Ministry issued a statement saying that the FATF's positive assessment of India was an important milestone in the country's efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. India's FATF mutual evaluation demonstrates the overall stability and integrity of the financial system, the ministry said.
India's mutual evaluation on FATF guidelines, a measure that verifies a country's effectiveness in formulating sound laws and policies and implementing them to control financial crimes, was last conducted in 2010.
A FATF peer review of India was completed earlier this year after a team of international experts conducted an "on-site" or physical visit to New Delhi and met officials from various central and state intelligence services, agencies of investigation, financial regulators and the judiciary. The statement issued at the end of the plenary session said that it was concluded that India has achieved a high level of technical compliance with FATF requirements and that its AML/CFT/CPF regime is achieving good results. results, including in their understanding of the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. , international cooperation, access to basic and beneficial information, use of financial intelligence and deprivation of assets from criminals and anti-proliferation financing measures.
AML means anti-money laundering, CFT means anti-terrorist financing, and CPF means anti-proliferation financing.
The statement, however, added that India needed "improvements" to strengthen supervision and implementation of preventive measures in some of the non-financial sectors. "India also needs to address delays related to the conclusion of money laundering proceedings and terrorist financing, and ensure that CFT measures aimed at preventing the non-profit sector from being abused for terrorist financing are implemented in accordance with the risk-based approach, including by carrying out outreach activities with non-profit organisations. about their terrorist financing risks," he said.
The government said India's performance in the FATF mutual evaluation "accumulates significant benefits for our growing economy as it demonstrates the overall stability and integrity of the financial system."
"Good ratings will lead to better access to global financial markets and institutions and increase investor confidence. They will also help in the global expansion of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India's fast payments system," he said.The Finance Ministry said this FATF recognition was a "testament to the rigorous and effective measures implemented by India over the last 10 years to safeguard its financial system from ML/TF threats."
"It underlines the country's commitment to international standards and its proactive stance in the global fight against financial crimes," he said, adding that this also sets a benchmark for "countries in our region" to effectively implement international standards on financing of terrorism.
The ministry said that with this adoption, the FATF has recognized India's efforts to mitigate risks arising from money laundering and terrorist financing, including laundering of proceeds from corruption, fraud and organized crime. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the FATF has given a good and surprising result for India. "It's a significant achievement in that sense."
Also highlighted are the effective measures implemented by India for the transition from a cash-based economy to a digital economy to reduce these risks and the implementation of JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) Trinity, along with strict regulations on cash transactions, has led to a significant increase in financial inclusion and digital transactions, as these measures make transactions more traceable, he said.
