Financial Crime World

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Dominican Republic Struggles to Combat Money Laundering, Says FATF Report

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released its latest report on the Dominican Republic’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The report highlights several areas where the country needs to improve its regulations and enforcement.

Challenges in Combating Money Laundering

According to the report, the Dominican Republic has made some progress in implementing anti-money laundering measures, but it still faces significant challenges. One of the main issues is the lack of effective risk assessment and risk-based approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

  • Lack of effective risk assessment
  • No risk-based approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing

National Cooperation and Coordination

The country also needs to improve its national cooperation and coordination between different government agencies. This includes:

  • Strengthening internal controls and foreign branches and subsidiaries
  • Regulating and supervising financial institutions and DNFBPs (Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions)

Regulatory Deficiencies

The report notes that the Dominican Republic has a money laundering offense in place, but it lacks:

  • A confiscation regime to prevent the misuse of assets during investigations
  • Provisional measures to prevent the misuse of assets during investigations

Additionally, the country’s laws do not criminalize terrorist financing, and it does not have effective targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing.

FATF Recommendations

The FATF report recommends that the Dominican Republic take several steps to improve its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regime, including:

  • Implementing a risk-based approach
  • Improving national cooperation and coordination
  • Strengthening regulations and enforcement
  • Criminalizing terrorist financing
  • Establishing effective targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing
  • Improving reporting of suspicious transactions

Conclusion

Overall, the FATF report suggests that while the Dominican Republic has made some progress in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, it still faces significant challenges. The country needs to take concrete steps to improve its regulations and enforcement if it is to effectively combat these threats.