AMENDMENTS PASSED TO COMBAT MONEY LAUNDERING AND FINANCING OF TERRORISM

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ Mongolia’s Parliament passed a Bill to amend the Law on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, during its plenary meeting on April 26. The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) conducted the second Mutual Evaluation on Mongolia’s anti-money laundering/counter terrorism financing (AML/CFT) system in 2016-2017 Mongolia, bringing the country under intensive control. It analyses the level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 recommendations and the level of effectiveness of Mongolia’s AML/CFT system, and provides recommendations on how the system could be strengthened. With the Mutual Evaluation, Mongolia was obliged to amend the related law earlier than October, 2018 within the improvement of AML/CFT system. As the Bill was approved, Mongolia is ensured to be compliant with FATF 40 recommendations. The amended law will enable to strengthen capacity and legal status of Financial Information Unit of the Bank of Mongolia, broaden a scope of the persons responsible for reporting in accordance with financial, service and technological changes, align relevant regulations and transfer control system to those responsible for reporting into risk-based forms. Moreover, it will create a possibility to enforce actual and true registration system on beneficial owner of any property in the economic relations through the registration authority, improve the accountability system for those violating the law, develop legal environment to implement sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council as well as to reflect a regulation on combating against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction alongside the financing of terrorism. The law covers very broad framework including banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, licensed security market entities, natural persons or legal persons conducting pawnbroker activities, savings and credit cooperatives and natural or legal persons conducting foreign currency exchange activities etc. The foundation of combating money laundering and terrorism financing was first founded through the approval of Parliament of Mongolia on the Law on Combating money laundering and financing of terrorism in July 8, 2006. Pursuant to this law, Financial Information Unit was established within the structure of Bank of Mongolia in November 29, 2006 whose function is to implement the laws on Combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. M.Unurzul