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Dominican Republic Scores High in Anti-Money Laundering Efforts

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has given the Dominican Republic a solid rating for its efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

Mutual Evaluation Report Highlights Progress

According to the 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report released by the FATF, the country has made significant progress in implementing international standards to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The report assesses countries based on their compliance with 40 recommendations aimed at preventing financial crimes.

Risk-Based Approach

One of the areas where the Dominican Republic excelled is in its risk-based approach to assessing and mitigating money laundering risks. The country’s authorities have put in place effective measures to identify high-risk customers and transactions, and have implemented a robust system for monitoring suspicious activity.

Key Features of the Risk-Based Approach

• Effective identification of high-risk customers and transactions
• Robust system for monitoring suspicious activity
• Continuous assessment and updating of risk-based approach

Strong Law Enforcement Cooperation

The report also highlighted the strong cooperation between law enforcement agencies and financial institutions in the Dominican Republic. This collaboration has led to several successful investigations and prosecutions of money laundering cases.

Benefits of Strong Law Enforcement Cooperation

• Increased effectiveness of anti-money laundering efforts
• Improved sharing of intelligence and information
• Enhanced deterrence of money laundering activities

Other Areas of Strength

The country’s laws and regulations related to money laundering offenses, confiscation, and provisional measures are also considered effective. Additionally, the Dominican Republic has made significant progress in implementing targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing.

Key Features of Effective Laws and Regulations

• Clear definitions of money laundering offenses
• Effective mechanisms for confiscation and provisional measures
• Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing

Areas for Improvement

While the Dominican Republic has made significant strides in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, there are still areas that require improvement. The country’s laws and regulations regarding correspondent banking, money or value transfer services, and non-profit organizations need further strengthening.

Key Areas for Improvement

• Correspondent banking
• Money or value transfer services
• Non-profit organizations

Overall Assessment

The FATF report concludes that the Dominican Republic has made significant progress in implementing international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. However, the country must continue to work on improving certain areas to ensure that its anti-money laundering policies are effective and robust.

Source:

The full Mutual Evaluation Report is available on the FATF website.