Nepal has been placed on the "grey list" for two years due to its failure to implement anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris, France. The Minister of Finance, Bishnu Prasad Paudel, and Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari had publicly indicated the possibility of Nepal being placed on the grey list.
The FATF meeting in Paris on Friday formally made this decision. According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, Nepal has only fulfilled 21 out of the 40 conditions set by the FATF. The FATF's regional office, the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), assessed Nepal in 2023. Based on the assessment, Nepal was given a one-year "observation" period, after which it was placed under monitoring. Nepal was placed on the grey list due to its weak implementation status. "Although Nepal has made significant progress compared to the 2023 assessment, the implementation was not satisfactory," Governor Adhikari had stated a few days ago.
Previously, Nepal was on the grey list from January 2008 to January 2014. Nepal was removed from the list after establishing the legal and institutional structure of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation.
The FATF analyzes not only Nepal's laws and structures but also their implementation status. It conducts studies by analyzing how the country's economic and financial system is operating and what activities have been carried out to reduce financial crime.
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