Afghanistan has been under a deadline to implement money laundering standards, otherwise it would be blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force. In a last minute deal, the blacklisting has been put off.
Afghanistan narrowly missed being cut off from the global financial system Friday, after rushing through last-minute laws to crack down on criminal use of its banks. The near-miss underscores how the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could undercut the security of Afghanistan’s fragile economy, as its notoriously corrupt banks can no longer hide from international scrutiny behind an American shield.
Afghanistan Escapes Blacklist, Foreign Policy
This is because Afghanistan has recently taken steps.
The Financial Action Task Force, a global body that develops anti-money-laundering guidelines, said in a statement Friday that Afghanistan had "taken steps" toward meeting international standards, but warned that the country needed to bring measures into force to avoid landing on its blacklist in October.
Afghanistan Escapes Blacklisting Over Standards to Fight Money Laundering, Wall Street Journal
The steps Afghanistan has taken are not precisely known.
The FATF said it wasn't clear whether the Afghan government had enacted appropriate legislation for combating the financing of terrorism, and whether a newly signed anti-money-laundering law went far enough to comply with standards.
[snip]
The Afghan government said late Wednesday that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had signed the anti-money-laundering law. But an international official familiar with the situation said it wasn't clear whether Mr. Karzai had signed a related piece of legislation on combating terrorism financing, as noted by FATF.
Afghanistan Escapes Blacklisting Over Standards to Fight Money Laundering, Wall Street Journal
The Financial Action Task Force has been running around, trying to know them.
"Our team this morning is running around trying to find out from the government if that has been done," the official said. "We're still awaiting some kind of confirmation that it's been signed. We're still trying to run that down."
Afghanistan Escapes Blacklisting Over Standards to Fight Money Laundering, Wall Street Journal
The Financial Action Task Force has been pushing Afghanistan for action for the last three years. But Afghanistan put off whatever action may or may not have been taken, to the last minute.
For the past three years, the Financial Action Task Force (F.A.T.F.), an intergovernmental body that helps to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, has been pushing the country to adopt a law that meets global standards, and had finally warned Afghanistan that it will take action at its next plenary session, which begins on June 23rd, effectively setting a deadline. But the country’s government has left it to the last minute, and—with the final round of the Presidential election set for Saturday—it now seems all but impossible that parliament will pass the bill in time.
Will Afghanistan Be Financially Blacklisted?, New Yorker
So the Financial Action Task Force, objecting to Afghanistan putting off action to the last minute, put off taking or not taking action, based on whatever actions Afghanistan may or may not have taken, to the last minute.
The FATF watchdog is expected to discuss Afghanistan on Friday, the last day of a meeting that started from June 23.
Afghan president may not have signed terror finance law: source, Reuters
The last minute has been changed to October.
Everyone knows that Afghanistan could not implement international money laundering standards, which the United States presses for in the fight against terrorism, because the powerful and corrupt Afghan officials the United States backs in the fight against terrorism, have been maneuvering behind the scenes to prevent them.
I cannot provide a newspaper quote saying that, though.