The FATF has placed the Principality of Monaco on the grey list of countries under surveillance until 2026. The international body responsible for evaluating the actions of States in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism hopes to bring about reforms in financial transparency in the countries concerned. The Monegasque response was not long in coming.
The Monegasque government only waited a weekend to give assurances to the FATF.
It may have taken some time for the perception of the reality of the issue to come to all circles, not just within government. But our business model is not and has never been to attract fraudsters.
Pierre-André Chiappori, Minister of Finance and Economy of the Principality
The FATF is the Financial Action Task Force, an international body responsible for evaluating the actions of States in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Meeting in plenary session on June 28, it placed around twenty countries under enhanced surveillance, includingt Mali, Vietnam, Yemen, Venezuela and the Principality of Monaco.
Message received by the government which held a press conference this Monday, July 1, and which put forward dates.
The Monegasque plan to comply with the FATF request extends over 18 months. The Principality has an update of the administrative, legal and judicial arsenal. Already, at the end of 2022, it has embarked on a series of reforms, with new laws, material and human reinforcements and the creation of a Monegasque Financial Security Authority (AMSF) or an organization responsible for managing seized assets. They were initiated following a report by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body.
Clearly, the FATF wants to continue the reforms and wants more guarantees. Pierre-André Chiappori considers that a lot has been done since this Moneyval report.
80% of the shortcomings identified by Moneyval have been resolved and there are still around ten points to resolve, according to a timetable aiming for removal from the grey list in 18 months.
Pierre-André Chiappori, Minister of Finance and Economy of the Principality
The FATF demands a better methodology in assessing the risks of money laundering, tax fraud, or even proof of exchanges between Monaco and abroad, in particular steps taken from the Rock to obtain information or seizures abroad.
The FATF also wants sanctions and confiscations.
A presumed money laundering offence has been introduced to facilitate prosecutions in cases of opacity of funds. Dozens of investigations into money laundering are underway, the number of convictions has increased from two in 2022 to around ten in 2023 and some fairly problematic and significant cases in this area could be judged before the end of the year.
Stéphane Thibault, Attorney General
“At the same time, assets worth 200 million euros were seized last year, but confiscations require final convictions, which can take time,” the magistrate said again.
Justice also needs magistrates and clerks, a challenge when the national population is only 9,720 Monegasques. Thus, on the 27 magistrates currently in office At the courthouse, 19 are seconded by France, whose numbers are limited. Monaco is considering training lawyers and using honorary magistrates.
The fact remains that inclusion on the FATF grey list could complicate transactions with increased controls, but the Minister of Finance and Economy wants to be reassuring.
““I did not have the impression of any major concern” among economic actors, who had prepared for this eventuality”he assures.
