FATF session begins today, India review also to be taken up

New Delhi: India's mutual evaluation at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is likely to be taken up by the inter-governmental body after the plenary session which starts from June 26 in Singapore, said officials aware of the matter. The focus will be on the number of money laundering cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The report on India's anti-money laundering and counter-terror action will be released on June 28, they added.

According to officials, the last mutual evaluation was conducted in 2009 and was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to FATF, the international policy making body conducts mutual evaluations of its member countries by evaluating levels of implementation of the FATF recommendations.

The main sources of money laundering in India result from a range of illegal activities committed within and outside the country, mainly drug trafficking, fraud, counterfeiting of Indian currency, transnational organised crime, human trafficking and corruption. The CBI and ED are among the lead agencies investigating cases of corruption and money laundering. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 came into force in 2005 and was amended in 2009. According to ED, it has recorded 5,906 Enforcement Case Information Reports, of which 3,867 cases were registered in the past five years till March 31, 2023.


Similarly, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) was amended in 2004 to criminalise terrorist financing. The UAPA was further amended in December 2008 and 2019 to broaden its scope and to bring the legislation more in line with the requirements of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (FT Convention), explained officials.

The Indian delegation is likely to inform FATF about the cases being investigated by the NIA. Set up in 2009, NIA is presently investigating 565 cases related to terrorism, Left Wing Extremism and Northeast insurgency. It is also investigating more than a dozen cases involving Pro-Khalistan Elements with nexus to gangster and organised crime.