Financial Crime World

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Ecuador Takes Steps to Enhance Financial Crime Prevention Strategies

In its latest evaluation, Ecuador has demonstrated significant progress in implementing technical requirements to prevent financial crimes. The report assesses the country’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, highlighting several areas of compliance.

Compliance Highlights

  • Ecuador has implemented effective measures to assess risk and apply a risk-based approach (R.1).
  • Coordinated national efforts to combat financial crime have been implemented (R.2).
  • Money laundering has been criminalized (R.3), and confiscation and provisional measures have been introduced (R.4).

Areas for Improvement

  • While targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing (R.6) and proliferation (R.7) have been implemented, customer due diligence (R.10) and internal controls (R.18) require further strengthening.
  • Reporting of suspicious transactions (R.20) and transparency on beneficial ownership (R.24) need improvement.

Regulatory and Supervisory Efforts

  • Ecuador’s efforts to regulate and supervise financial institutions (R.26) and DNFBPs (R.28) have been praised.
  • However, correspondent banking (R.13) and money or value transfer services (R.14) remain partially compliant areas.

Progress in Preventing Terrorist Financing

  • Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing (R.6) have been implemented.
  • Powers of supervisors (R.27) have been effective in providing timely and accurate information to support investigations.
  • Financial intelligence units (R.29) have also been effective in providing timely and accurate information to support investigations.

Conclusion

The report highlights Ecuador’s efforts to strengthen its financial crime prevention strategies, but also identifies areas that require improvement. By addressing these weaknesses, Ecuador can further enhance its reputation as a responsible member of the global financial community.

Full Report Available

The full report can be accessed on the website of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).