President Anura Kumara Dissanayake today (4) reviewed Sri Lanka’s preparations for its third Mutual Evaluation on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), stressing the need for strong coordination among public and private sector institutions.
The discussion was held at the Presidential Secretariat ahead of the country’s third Mutual Evaluation process, which assesses compliance with international AML/CFT standards.
The evaluation will assess Sri Lanka’s technical compliance with the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as well as the effectiveness of their implementation through 11 immediate outcomes.
President emphasised that the successful completion of the evaluation is vital to maintaining Sri Lanka’s credibility within the international financial system and called on all relevant institutions to actively contribute to the process.
Officials from the Central Bank noted that Sri Lanka has been preparing for the evaluation since 2023 and has intensified its efforts over the past two years to meet the required benchmarks.
The field assessment by the evaluation team is scheduled to take place later this year.
During the meeting, progress on implementing recommendations and action plans at ministry and institutional level was reviewed, while attention was also focused on addressing outstanding challenges.
The President also inquired into measures being taken to curb online gambling and the progress of related legislation. He further reviewed the establishment of the Authority for the Management of Proceeds of Crime, with officials stating that the institution has been set up and recruitment of staff is currently underway.
The evaluation is conducted by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), with around 25 state institutions involved in the process. Coordination is being carried out by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank. (Newswire)