PARIS – Global watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has added Myanmar to a group of high-risk countries, known as the blacklist, citing its failure to make enough progress in addressing illicit financial flows.

The failures “were first identified in a report in September 2018; more than four years later, many of those issues remain”, said FATF president T. Raja Kumar, following the decision.

“I urge the authorities of Myanmar to swiftly complete their targeted action plan to address the strategic deficiencies identified in the country,” he said.

The South-east Asian nation joins North Korea and Iran, which have been on the high-risk list since 2020. The inclusion means entities and individuals in Myanmar will face enhanced due diligence from global financial institutions. 

In the most serious cases, the FATF would advise countries to apply countermeasures to protect the international financial system from money laundering and terrorist financing risks from those blacklisted. 

Myanmar is already under a range of punitive measures. Western nations led by the United States have imposed rounds of sanctions targeting coup leaders, related business entities and a group of arms dealers since the 2021 military coup that toppled the civilian government led by elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said last year that banks under its jurisdiction do not hold “significant funds” from Myanmar companies and individuals.

Financial institutions have been placed on “heightened alert in relation to risks emanating from the situation in Myanmar”, the regulator told Bloomberg News in August.

The Myanmar authorities had remained optimistic that the FATF would rule in their favour.

Central Bank of Myanmar governor Than Than Swe said last month that Myanmar was making concerted efforts to get off FATF’s watchlist by conducting risk assessment in banks, on-site inspections and off-site monitoring. BLOOMBERG