Iran Customs Starts Implementing AML Rules

EghtesadOnline: Iran Customs Administration has required all its offices to follow anti-money laundering regulations approved by the government last October.

News ID: ۷۸۵۲۸۷

20 January 2020

As per the notice, customs offices across the country have started taking stringent measures while verifying import-export documents, potentially suspicious financial transactions, unruly and suspicious deals, transactions or deals that may be conducted on behalf of others and the likes, Eghtesad News reported on Sunday.

According to Financial Tribune, officers are required to be extra cautious about deals conducted in areas marked as “high risk”.

They also are obliged to keep track of their operations and provide supervisory bodies with periodic performance reports.

Tehran’s government has issued a framework assigning tasks to all relevant executive bodies, as a part of an amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Law.

The framework was passed during the Cabinet meeting on Saturday and approved by the judiciary.

The amended Anti-Money Laundering Law was proposed by President Hassan Rouhani in early 2018, after it was studied by key entities, namely the specialized committees in government, parliament, the constitutional watchdog Guardians Council plus the Expediency Council, the top arbiter.

The law was first ratified in February 2008 and during a decade of implementation it became apparent that some  aspects of the law needed amendments.

In August 2018, amendments to the CFT (Combating Financing of Terrorism) Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran were approved by the Guardians Council and notified by the president to the relevant organizations and ministries.

The amendments were one of the main pillars of Iran’s Action Plan, followed by amendments to the AML law and accession to Palermo and CFT conventions.

Highlight: As per the notice, customs offices across the country have started taking stringent measures while verifying import-export documents, potentially suspicious financial transactions, unruly and suspicious deals plus transactions or deals that may be conducted on behalf of others