Joint efforts needed to remove Nepal from FATF grey list finance minister

Kathmandu, Jan 28 (PTI) Nepal's finance minister on Wednesday said removing the country from FATF's grey list is a shared responsibility of all stakeholders, including the government, and called for coordinated efforts to complete the required reforms within a year.
     The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a global intergovernmental money-laundering and terror-funding watchdog.
     Addressing a programme here to mark the National Anti-Money Laundering Day, themed 'Money Laundering Prevention: Transparency and Fiscal Discipline', Rameshore Prasad Khanal underscored the need to lay a concrete foundation for Nepal's exit from the FATF list by implementing all necessary reform measures.
     Khanal said the government's economic reform initiatives are not driven by pressure from the international community but aimed at building corruption-free institutions, promoting transparency and ensuring good governance to strengthen the national economy.
     Asserting that initiatives to prevent money laundering do not impose additional economic burdens or unnecessary costs on the country, he said it is the shared responsibility of all stakeholders, including the government, to work towards lifting Nepal from the FATF list.
     Countries placed on the FATF grey list are subject to increased monitoring due to strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing frameworks.
     Apart from Nepal, some of India’s other neighbours, including Bangladesh and Myanmar, are also under FATF’s increased monitoring.
     Arguing that the lower-than-expected inflow of foreign investment is due to a lack of confidence in Nepal's financial system, Khanal underlined the need to create an investment-friendly environment through reforms.
     Expressing hope that the reform process would be completed by the end of 2026, he also called for greater effectiveness in investigation, prosecution, and action in money laundering cases.
     Also speaking at the programme, law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister Anil Kumar Sinha said Nepal must address global legal policy and institutional challenges to ensure financial integrity and good governance.
     He described the current situation as both a challenge and an opportunity for self-reflection and further reform, adding that an action plan had been formulated to remove the country from the grey list within the next year and must be implemented through collective efforts from all sectors.
     Director-General of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation Gajendra Kumar Thakur said eliminating money laundering is not the responsibility of a single agency and requires collective efforts by all stakeholders.
     He emphasised the need for legal reforms, updating legislation, strengthening cooperation among investigation agencies, expanding international coordination, developing an integrated information-sharing system and monitoring the digital economy to address the issue effectively.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)