📈 President Takes Direct Oversight of AML/CFT Review to Avert Grey-List Risks

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has intervened to personally oversee Sri Lanka’s Third Mutual Evaluation on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), signaling high-level political ownership to protect the nation’s financial integrity. • The Risks: Failure to meet Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards risks returning Sri Lanka to the "grey list". This could deter foreign investment, increase compliance costs, and disrupt vital cross-border financial transactions. • Strategic Context: The evaluation, overseen by the Asia/Pacific Group (APG), assesses technical compliance with 40 FATF recommendations and effectiveness across 11 outcomes. Previous lapses led to grey-listing in 2017, which the current administration aims to avoid through "good governance and accountability." • Key Directives: • Legislation: Expedite all pending technical amendments and legal reforms. • Human Resources: Resolve staffing shortages by fast-tracking recruitments and re-engaging experienced retired officers on 1-year contracts. • Stability: A special circular will be issued to retain trained staff in their posts until the evaluation concludes in November 2026. • Timeline: A Special Task Force (STF) must submit a progress report to the President within two weeks. _Summary based on official presidential review and provisional evaluation data._