Suriname Receives Mixed Rating on Money Laundering Detection Methods
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released its 2023 Mutual Evaluation Report, which assesses Suriname’s efforts to implement anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures. The report gives the country a mixed rating, highlighting both progress made and areas that require improvement.
Partially Compliant Recommendations
Suriname is partially compliant with several recommendations, including:
- R.1: Assessing risk
- R.2: National cooperation
- R.5: Terrorist financing offense
- R.10: Customer due diligence
- R.12: Politically exposed persons
- R.13: Correspondent banking
- R.20: Reporting of suspicious transactions
- R.21: Tipping-off and confidentiality
These recommendations cover essential areas such as risk assessment, national cooperation, and terrorist financing offense.
Largely Compliant Recommendations
The country is largely compliant with:
- R.3: Money laundering offense
- R.4: Confiscation and provisional measures
- R.7: Terrorist financing offense
- R.9: Financial institution secrecy laws
- R.11: Record keeping
- R.14: Money or value transfer services
- R.16: Wire transfers
- R.17: Reliance on third parties
- R.18: Internal controls
- R.33: Statistics
These recommendations cover important aspects such as money laundering offense, financial institution secrecy laws, and internal controls.
Non-Compliant Recommendations
Suriname is non-compliant with:
- R.24: Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements
- R.25: Regulation and supervision of financial institutions
- R.34: Guidance and feedback
- R.38: Mutual legal assistance: freezing and confiscation
These recommendations focus on areas such as transparency, regulation, and mutual legal assistance.
Areas for Improvement
The report highlights several areas where Suriname needs to improve, including:
- Relying on third parties
- Effectiveness of internal controls
- Capacity for international cooperation
FATF officials praised Suriname’s efforts to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime but noted that more work is needed to address the remaining gaps.
Conclusion
The report provides a roadmap for Suriname to improve its compliance with international standards and reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing in the country. By addressing the areas identified for improvement, Suriname can further strengthen its anti-money laundering regime and contribute to global efforts to combat financial crime.