Myanmar Fails to Make Significant Progress in Anti-Money Laundering Guidelines, Remains Under Scrutiny by Global Financial Community

Myanmar has been found to have made minimal progress in addressing technical compliance deficiencies identified in its Mutual Evaluation report, falling short of expectations from global financial watchdogs.

Slow Progress on Key Recommendations

A notable exception is Recommendation 14, which has been upgraded from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant following improved measures to prevent the misuse of shell companies and trusts for money laundering purposes. However, progress on other key recommendations has been sluggish:

• Recommendations 7 and 8: No significant improvements have been seen in these areas.
• Recommendation 24: Progress remains slow in addressing deficiencies in customer due diligence and ongoing monitoring.
• Recommendation 26: Efforts to strengthen the reporting of suspicious transactions have not yet borne fruit.

Ongoing Concerns About AML Regime

As a result, Myanmar’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regime continues to lag behind international standards. The country currently has:

• Seven recommendations rated Compliant
• 18 recommendations rated Largely Compliant
• 13 recommendations remaining Partially Compliant

This lack of progress raises concerns about the effectiveness of Myanmar’s AML framework in preventing financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

Global Financial Authorities Closely Monitoring Progress

Global financial authorities are closely monitoring Myanmar’s efforts to address these deficiencies and implement necessary reforms to strengthen its AML regime. The country must demonstrate more significant progress if it is to avoid further scrutiny and potential consequences for non-compliance with international AML standards.