Financial Crime World

Armenia’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Guidelines Under Scrutiny

Yerevan, Armenia - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released a report evaluating Armenia’s compliance with international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The assessment reveals mixed results, with some areas meeting international standards while others require improvement.

Compliance Highlights

Armenia received a positive rating in several areas:

  • Assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach (R.1)
  • National cooperation and coordination (R.2)
  • Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing (R.6)
  • Customer due diligence (R.10)
  • Internal controls and foreign branches and subsidiaries (R.18)

Areas Requiring Improvement

However, Armenia was found to be partially compliant in several areas:

  • Confiscation and provisional measures (R.4)
  • Terrorist financing offence (R.5)
  • Financial institution secrecy laws (R.9)
  • Record keeping (R.11)
  • Non-profit organisations (R.8)
  • Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements (R.24 and R.25)

Regulatory Compliance

Armenia’s reliance on third parties (R.17) was rated as largely compliant, while its regulation and supervision of financial institutions (R.26) and powers of supervisors (R.27) received a positive rating.

Challenges Ahead

The report highlights areas where Armenia needs to improve:

  • Regime for DNFBPs (R.22 and R.23)
  • Higher-risk countries (R.19)
  • Cash couriers (R.32)

Commitment to Improvement

Armenia has been working to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework in recent years, but still faces challenges in implementing certain technical requirements. The country’s authorities have committed to addressing the deficiencies identified in the report and improving its AML/CFT regime.

Conclusion

While Armenia has made progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, there are still areas that require improvement. To ensure the integrity of its financial system, Armenia must continue to work towards meeting international standards.