MNA – Hours after the anti-money laundering body FATF extended the deadline for Iran until June 2019 to complete reforms, the Central Bank of Iran issued a statement welcoming the move.











The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) watchdog said on Friday that it has extended Iran's deadline to June to strengthen its anti-money laundering legislation.

In a Friday statement, the Iranian Central Bank (CBI) praised the steps that have been taken so far by the Iranian legislative bodies in relation with completing the reforms required by FTAF, which led the global watchdog to extend the deadline for Iran until June.

The CIB statement also calls on relevant Iranian bodies to determine the fate of the two remaining Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime bills as soon as possible.

Although the CBI statement considers the launch of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges which is a special-purpose vehicle established in January 2019 by France, Germany and the United Kingdom to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran as an insufficient step by the EU countries which does not match their commitments under the JCPOA to prevent the deal from collapse, it says that in order to demonstrate Iran’s willingness to engage with the outside world, the corresponding company is under construction in Tehran and will be introduced to start cooperation with Europe within the framework of the introduced payment mechanism.

The two FATF-related bills have already been approved by the lawmakers in the Iranian Parliament and need to gain the approval of the Expediency Council after they were rejected by the Guardian Council.

Guardian Council is a body empowered to vet legislation but the Expediency Council acts as a mediator in disputes between the Parliament and the Guardian Council.

While the government of President Rouhani asks for the approval of the bills as a necessary step for keeping trade and banking ties with other countries under US economic sanctions., there are concerns among other officials and some lawmakers that joining the anti-money laundering body may pave the way for further sanctioning Iran.