OREANDA-NEWS  There are no objective prerequisites for the possible inclusion of Russia in the gray or black lists of the FATF (the Group for the Development of financial measures to combat money laundering - Financial Action Task Force, FATF), such a decision can only be of a political nature, believes the head of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina.

"In 2019, there was a comprehensive assessment of the Russian anti-laundering system by the FATF, and we successfully passed it, received fairly high ratings. This anti-washing system continues to work effectively. And, of course, in order to be included in the gray or black list, some significant structural deficiencies in the functioning of this anti-washing system are needed. In our opinion, there are no objective reasons for this," she said at a briefing following a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank.

Nabiullina stressed that "if a politically motivated decision is made, then, of course, the consequence may be the complication of the settlement system, because there will be more time for compliance procedures in international settlements." "The consequences will be negative from this," she said.

The FATF glider Week will begin in Paris on June 19. So far, no official statements about possible steps against the Russian Federation have appeared, however, the possibility of the FATF considering the inclusion of the Russian Federation in the gray or black lists has recently been discussed in foreign media.

Earlier, in February, at the FATF plenary meeting, it was already decided to suspend the membership of the Russian Federation in this organization. Then Rosfinmonitoring stated that this does not entail any obligations and restrictions for financial institutions in Russia and abroad.

Russia was excluded from the FATF blacklist in September 2002 after the first assessment of compliance of the Russian AML/CFT system with international standards. After the second assessment in April 2003, she became a member of the FATF on June 19 of the same year. In 2008, the third round of mutual conformity assessment of the Russian AML/CFT system was held. Since 2010, Russia has regularly reported on progress in improving the national AML/CFT system at FATF plenary meetings.

The FATF gray list includes States under enhanced monitoring, in respect of which the organization calls for taking measures aimed at minimizing the risks associated with money laundering and terrorist financing. Now it includes Albania, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Gibraltar, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jordan, Yemen, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, UAE, Panama, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Philippines, South Africa.

There is also a list of high-risk jurisdictions, the so-called "black" list, it includes countries against which countermeasures are required, these are the DPRK and Iran, and in respect of which enhanced due diligence is required, commensurate with the risks, this is Myanmar.