In a boost for President Javier Milei’s government, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF, GAFI in its Spanish acronym) money-laundering watchdog has announced that Argentina will not be placed on its “grey list” of jurisdictions that need increased monitoring.
The international organisation approved a “Mutual Evaluation Report” presented by Argentina in Paris last Thursday, prompting joy in the La Libertad Avanza government.
Failure to gain approval for its report and entry into the grey list would not only have had negative consequences for Argentina’s economy and its markets, it would have also led to sanctions.
“Thanks to the arduous work of the Javier Milei government, Argentina has avoided falling into the grey list. From the Justice Ministry we heeded the observations made to us to boost our compliance with international standards, reaffirming our commitment against money-laundering and the financing of terrorism,” celebrated Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona after learning of the verdict.
He recalled that the country “had been included in the list during the government of Cristina [Fernández de] Kirchner and last year Kirchnerism had left us close again," in reference to the Alberto Fernández administration.
The FATF approval came within the framework of the an evaluations session in Paris, attended by Cúneo Libarona, Justice Secretary Sebastián Amerio, the head of the UIF (Unidad de Información Financiera) money-laundering watchdog Ignacio Yacobucci, Cassation Court President Mariano Borinsky and Eugenio Curia, a career diplomat coordinating the work. Juan Tomás Rodríguez Ponte, the executive director of the Supreme Court’s organised crime unit, also participated.
After debate on Argentina’s report, the green light was given. The document was the product of a long process of evaluation, carried out by the Argentine state via the Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Combat against Asset-Laundering, the Financing of Terrorism and the Proliferation of Arms Massive Destruction along with the GAFI evaluation team formed by representatives of different national organisations, including the Supreme Court.
"The commitment demonstrated by the Supreme Court to work closely with different state sectors proved decisive in the marks obtained" by the system for preventing and fighting these crimes, it was explained in a communiqué.
Obtaining bad marks could have severe implications for the economy of the country evaluated so that having achieved a positive result was fundamental for Argentina. A "grey list" deteremination would have cast a long shadow over flagship Milei administration reforms, such as the RIGI (Régimen de Incentivo a las Grandes Inversiones) major investment incentive scheme and the ‘blanqueo’ capital whitewash.
The main questions raised by FATF watchdogs concerned"dirty" money from asset-laundering were linked to the lack of judicial resolutions, owing to the delay in court rulings in different cases. The Supreme Court’s commitment to the presentation of cases and other rulings was what avoided the country falling into the list, said government sources.
By avoiding being classified as a "dangerous" country in relation to these crimes, Argentina is managing to clear away the doubts about the conditions of legal stability for multi-million investments. Apart from companies not putting their money into countries which figure in the "grey list" for reasons related to their image and confidence, RIGI in particular also prohibits investments coming from the companies of states questioned for their asset-laundering.
The FATF, created in 1989 by the G7 to fix international standards and tackle money-laundering and the financing of terrorism, has grey-listed a score of countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Haiti, Kenya, Syria, Monaco, Croatia and Venezuela.
Inly Iran, Burma and North Korea are black-listed.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
