The eight countries of the Nordic-Baltic Constituency of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have taken the initiative to engage the IMF to conduct a regional analysis of money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) threats and vulnerabilities.
The eight countries that will be included in the analysis are: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
The IMF has been asked "to analyse the most pertinent ML/TF threats and vulnerabilities in the region given the interconnectedness of the financial systems and particularly the many cross-border banking networks and relationships in the Nordic-Baltic region. Bringing in the perspective of the IMF, which has a reputation as a trusted and independent advisor on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), provides an opportunity to analyse risks to the region as a whole, analyse relevant progress to mitigate those risks, and make recommendations for the future," LB said.
The region has in recent years suffered from a series of major banking scandals involving money-laundering and sanctions evasion, with even the Scandinavian banks that were formerly regarded as being squeaky-clean proving to have a less ethical side than many assumed.
The IMF will begin its work in January 2021 and is expected to report its findings in mid-2022.
