CBI Governor: FATF's Decision Not to Affect Iran's Foreign Currency Market

FARS NEWS AGENCY- "Under the present circumstances that most foreign banks do not show necessary cooperation with Iran due to the US heightened sanctions and our foreign currency exchanges are carried out through alternative mechanisms which cannot be sanctioned, the future decision by the FATF cannot leave considerable impact on Iran's foreign currency conditions," Hemmati wrote on his Instagram page on Sunday.
He, meantime, stressed that the CBI will continue powerful monitoring of monetary flow and transactions and fight against money-laundering alongside management of the foreign currency market.
The FATF in October extended suspension of its measures against Iran, giving the country four more months until February 2020 to comply with requested recommendations.
“If before February 2020, Iran does not enact the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions in line with the FATF Standards, then the FATF will fully lift the suspension of counter-measures and call on its members and urge all jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures, in line with recommendation 19,” the FATF said in a statement.
Iran has been required to fulfill dozens of FATF recommendations to enhance its status from a blacklist of non-cooperative countries, while the country is under US sanctions. The country's status in FATF has no impact on toughening or easing the US sanctions.
FATF has required Iran to implement a number of moves that include endorsement of several conventions.
Palermo bill is one of the four government bills seeking to bring Iran's anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing standards into line with those defined by the FATF.
The parliament has approved all the measures but except for the bill that updates Iran's domestic law on countering financing of terrorism. All the rest have been rejected by the Guardian Council – a watchdog that ensures laws are in line with the Constitution and Sharia.