Iran Press- In an exclusive interview with Iran Press, Karimi Ghodousi, a member of the parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, said the FATF has not been approved by the Iranian parliament.
The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 group of industrialised nations to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 the organisation's mandate expanded to include terrorism financing.
According to the senior MP representing the city of Mashhad, following a request from the Iranian government, the parliament (Majlis) decided to update and amend two existing pieces of legislation. (1) Combating Organised Crime Act and (2) Combating Money Laundering Act.
The senior MP , Karimi Ghodousi, added: "The Majlis amended both pieces of legislation. We amended and updated Combating Organised Crime Act, making the legislation more up-to-date and much more effective . The Council of Guardians , which has a supervisory role, approved our amendments".
"Thus, what the FATF ( Financial Action Task Force ) wanted was for us to remove article 2 of the Organised Crime Act altogether. Article 2 of the Act says the National Security Council has the final say on all issues relating to Organised Crime, and FATF wanted us to remove this article. But the parliament ( Majlis ) decided it was totally unacceptable that a foreign organisation was telling us how to amend our domestic legislation. We felt this was almost 'a colonial order', telling us what to do as far as domestic legislation was concerned. It also brought into question our cherished independence. Thankfully, the Iranian parliament did not go down the path which the FATF wanted us to go, and we actually amended the legislation as we saw fit."
Karimi Ghodousi, added: "The second act to be amended was Combating Money Laundering Act. We amended this piece of legislation and forwarded it to the Council of Guardians. This time , the Council of Guardians raised many objections and did not approve the amendments of the Majlis, and the legislation returned to the parliament for further amendments and review.
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