Background

1. FATF is the global standard setter in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism. It develops Recommendations which set out the legal, regulatory and operational measures that countries should have in place to protect the financial system from misuse. These Recommendations are revised periodically, most recently in 2012, to ensure that countries respond to current money laundering and terrorist financing threats, as well as other threats to the financial system.

2. FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing these Recommendations, through a Mutual Evaluation on how effective their AML measures are. After a Mutual Evaluation is carried out, a follow-up process provides a framework to monitor progress made to address any need for improvement.

3. In 2020 the FATF-style regional body “Eurasian group on combatting money laundering and terrorist financing” will conduct the Mutual Evaluation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the AIFC will be a part of that evaluation.

4. During the considered evaluation the approach will be emphasised on assessing technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations, and on assessing whether or how the AML/CTF system is effective.

5. The National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing of the Republic of Kazakhstan is scheduled for 2018 and the AFSA is in a dialogue with the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan to ensure AFSA’s framework is fit for purpose and will not detract from the overall AML assessment of Kazakhstan.

6. Therefore, the AIFC AML Rules need to be fully aligned with the FATF recommendations.