Financial Crime World

Mongolia Launches Ambitious Plan to Combat Terrorism Financing

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - A Comprehensive Strategy to Crack Down on Terrorist Financing

In a bid to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) framework, Mongolia has unveiled a comprehensive three-year strategy aimed at improving coordination among AML/CFT stakeholders, enhancing public-private partnerships, and strengthening financial institutions’ ability to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

Key Objectives

  • Enhance awareness and understanding of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, private entities, and the general public about preventing and fighting money laundering and terrorism financing.
  • Improve information sharing and detection of ML/TF offenses.
  • Establish a legal framework consistent with international standards set by the United Nations and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
  • Strengthen supervisory frameworks for AML/CFT compliance.
  • Expand activities of the Financial Information Unit.

Strategy Components

  • Prevent legal entities and persons from being used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes.
  • Enable competent authorities to obtain information about beneficial owners.
  • Establish an environment that prevents crimes of terrorism.
  • Improve training for specialized officers responsible for detecting and investigating ML/TF offenses.
  • Enhance international cooperation in fighting transnational crimes.

Implementation and Financing

The strategy will be financed through a combination of state and local budgets, funds and loans provided by international organizations and donor countries, and other sources. The National Committee, comprising government agencies and other stakeholders, will oversee the implementation of the plan and provide integrated management and coordination.

  • Annual monitoring of the strategy’s implementation will be conducted, with reports submitted to the government within the first half of each year.
  • Amendments can be made to the strategy and its action plan based on monitoring outcomes, international recommendations, and standards adopted by international organizations.

Significance

The launch of this ambitious plan comes at a critical time for Mongolia, which has been under pressure to improve its AML/CFT framework following a recent Mutual Evaluation Report. The report identified several weaknesses in the country’s system, including inadequate supervision and enforcement mechanisms, and insufficient information sharing among authorities.

By implementing this strategy, Mongolia is taking a significant step towards strengthening its anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing efforts and demonstrating its commitment to international cooperation in the fight against transnational crimes.