Wednesday, June 30 2021 15:20

ArmInfo. On June 30, the National Assembly of Armenia, at an extraordinary meeting in the second and final reading, approved the draft law proposed by the government on  amendments and additions to the RA law "On Combating Money Laundering  and Financing of Terrorism".

As Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia Nerses Yeritsyan  stated, presenting the document, from the first to the second  readings, at the suggestion of parliamentarians, a number of  amendments were made to the draft law. Thus, the circle of persons  with political influence was expanded to include high- ranking  officials of the local self-government bodies, and the period for the  suspension of account transactions (blocking of accounts) is limited  to 65 days. Within the indicated 65 days, as Yeritsyan explained, a  decision will be made either to initiate a criminal case or to  unfreeze the account.

As it has been reported, the legislative initiative was discussed on  April 27 at the sitting of the NA Standing Committee on  Financial-Credit and Budgetary Issues. As the deputy head of the  Central Bank said then, in July 2018, the MONEYVAL commission  approved the first report on Armenia's progress in implementing the  recommendations given at the fifth stage of the assessment report on  combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. It was noted  that although Armenia has made significant progress in eliminating  the identified technical shortcomings, there are still some  shortcomings in the implementation of the recommendations presented  by international structures. According to Yeritsyan, Armenia is  constantly taking steps to bring its system of combating money  laundering and financing of terrorism in line with international  standards.

The MPs raised many questions, which mainly related to the  introduction of modern legislation in Armenia in the field of  combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism,  interaction with international structures and the EAEU countries. In  response N. Yeritsyan noted that Russia plays a serious role in the  fight against the financing of terrorism. Neighboring Georgia also  recorded high performance in this struggle.

It was noted that the bill prohibits the provision of reports to  clients or other persons on the receipt of instructions from the  authorized body by reporting entities. This provision is aimed at  more efficient organization of the instructions of the authorized  body. In the draft under consideration, other important and relevant  provisions have also been clarified.

According to the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, the adoption of  the bill is expected to improve the practice of applying the  requirements of the legislation in this area.