Financial Crime World

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Uzbekistan’s AML/CFT Regulations: A Comprehensive Review

In a recent evaluation, Uzbekistan has been assessed on its compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT). The country received ratings across various areas, reflecting its level of implementation of these technical requirements.

Compliance Levels

According to the report, Uzbekistan is largely compliant in many areas, including:

  • Assessing risk and applying a risk-based approach (R.1)
  • Having a national cooperation and coordination mechanism (R.2)
  • Possessing a money laundering offense (R.3)
  • Laws for confiscation and provisional measures (R.4) and terrorist financing offenses (R.5)

However, Uzbekistan fell short in some areas, such as:

  • Targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing (R.6), proliferation (R.7), and non-profit organizations (R.8)
  • Financial institution secrecy laws (R.9) and customer due diligence requirements (R.10)

Mixed Ratings

Uzbekistan received mixed ratings for its:

  • Record-keeping practices (R.11)
  • Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) (R.12)
  • Correspondent banking (R.13)
  • Money or value transfer services (R.14)
  • New technologies (R.15)
  • Wire transfers (R.16)
  • Reliance on third parties (R.17)

Lack of Compliance

The country’s internal controls, foreign branches and subsidiaries, higher-risk countries, reporting of suspicious transactions, tipping-off, and confidentiality requirements received largely compliant ratings. However, its:

  • DNFBPs’ customer due diligence and other measures (R.22)
  • Transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and arrangements (R.25)
  • Regulation and supervision of financial institutions and DNFBPs (R.26 and R.28)
  • Statistics (R.33) were rated partially or non-compliant.

Progress Made

Uzbekistan has made significant progress in establishing a:

  • Financial intelligence unit (R.29)
  • Law enforcement and investigative authorities’ responsibilities and powers (R.30 and R.31)
  • International cooperation mechanisms, including:
    • Mutual legal assistance (R.37)
    • Extradition (R.39)
    • Other forms of cooperation (R.40)

Future Improvements

The country’s AML/CFT regulations are expected to undergo further improvements in the coming years to ensure full compliance with the FATF Recommendations.

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