Iran parliament approves historic bill on accession to CFT

Iranian lawmakers on Sunday approved a bill on the country’s accession to Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) standards set by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force).

The parliament’s open session debating the CFT kicked off on Sunday morning with 268 lawmakers in attendance.

Reportedly, a total of 143 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill while 120 voted against it. Five MPs also abstained.

On June 30, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said Iran had until October to complete reforms that would “bring it into line with global norms or face consequences” that could further deter investors from the country.

To fulfill FATF requirements, President Hassan Rouhani’s administration has proposed four bills to the parliament for approval, two of which are still undecided, including the Palermo Convention.

On June 10, the Iranian parliament passed a law allowing the country to join the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), but decided to put on hold debates on Iran’s accession to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for two months.

Iran’s parliament had in May adopted new amendments proposed by the government to the country’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) law as part of efforts to improve connections to the international banking and trade system.

Despite the parliament approval, the bills were not still obligatory, because it had to be endorsed by Iran’s Guardian Council. The Guardian Council had found faults with the bills and sent them back to the legislature for reconsideration.

They have been referred to the Expediency Council for the final approval.

Today, the Iranian MPs decided to join combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) standards set by the FATF for years.