On 19 February 2016, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), of which Singapore is a member, issued an updated Public Statement that highlighted the strategic deficiencies in the anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes:-

• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran which have not shown sufficient commitment to address their serious AML/CFT deficiencies. They are subject to a FATF call on its members and other jurisdictions to apply counter-measures.
• Myanmar has “substantially addressed its action plan at a technical level” and is moved from the FATF Public Statement to the FATF’s on-going global AML/CFT compliance process.

Details of the FATF Statement can be found at:

http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/high-riskandnon-cooperativejurisdictions/documents/public-statement-february-2016.html

Financial institutions are advised to accord due consideration to the above FATF Statement and take the appropriate action(s) and level of due-diligence measures, as specified in the MAS AML/CFT Notices. Non-financial institutions that are subjected to AML/CFT requirements in Singapore are similarly advised to note the updated Statement and take appropriate measures in accordance with your respective AML/CFT obligations.

Separately, the FATF has issued an updated statement on its on-going process to improve global AML/CFT compliance.  This statement provides information on a list of jurisdictions that have committed to action plans to address and strengthen their respective AML/CFT deficiencies, and would assist financial institutions and relevant non-financial institutions in your risk assessment and mitigation.  The second FATF statement can be found at:

http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/high-riskandnon-cooperativejurisdictions/documents/fatf-compliance-february-2016.html