Money Laundering in Myanmar: What You Need to Know

Progress Made in Anti-Money Laundering Efforts

Myanmar has made significant progress since its 2018 Mutual Evaluation Report, according to international anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) watchdogs. The country has been re-rated on several key recommendations, with notable improvements in:

• Recommendation 10: Prevention of Misuse of Legal Persons: Upgraded from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant
• Recommendations 12 and 13: Regulation of Digital Currencies and Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions: Upgraded from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant

Setback Due to New Obligations

However, Myanmar’s overall level of compliance with AML/CFT measures has been downgraded from Largely Compliant to Partially Compliant due to new obligations under Recommendation 15.

Next Steps

Despite this setback, Myanmar will continue to remain in enhanced follow-up status and is required to report back to the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) on its progress in strengthening its implementation of AML/CFT measures.

Note: Recommendation 14, which concerned the implementation of measures to prevent the misuse of legal arrangements, was improved from Non-Compliant to Partially Compliant.