FATF to Release India Mutual Evaluation Report on Sep 19

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) Global crime watchdog FATF will highlight the steps taken by India to counter terror financing and money laundering, and flag priority action areas in the 'mutual evaluation report' to be released on September 19, official sources said on Tuesday.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had in June adopted the mutual evaluation report on India and placed the country in the "regular follow-up" category -- the highest rating given by the global watchdog and a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries.

Countries rated under the 'regular follow-up category' are required to submit a follow-up report to the FATF once in three years on a voluntary basis.

Out of 40 parameters looked into by the FATF, India received the highest rating in 37 parameters, official sources said.

"Priority action points will be given by the FATF in the September 19 report," sources said, adding that on most of the parameters, India would be getting a positive rating in the report, while there would be few sore points on which FATF has suggested improvements.

While adopting the mutual evaluation report in the FATF plenary held in Singapore between June 26-28, the global crime watchdog hailed India for achieving a high level of technical compliance.

It had said the country's efforts towards anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) are achieving good results.

FATF, however, said the country needs to address "delays" related to the conclusion of money laundering and terrorist financing prosecutions.

It also flagged the need to strengthen the supervision and implementation of preventive measures in some of the non-financial sectors. Non-financial sectors include real estate agents, gems and jewellery dealers, casino operators, and chartered accountants and company secretaries.

Also, the FATF had said that India needs to ensure that CFT measures are in place to prevent non-profit sectors from being abused for terror financing.

Official sources said India has to strike a balance between regulation and stifling of charitable institutions which play an important role in the country.