Even as the Islamic Republic recently concluded a major deal to purchase aircraft from Boeing (a company that employs a leading Iran-deal advocate as a consultant), and the Obama administration appears committed to drumming up more business for Tehran, the U.S. government’s own money-laundering watchdog, in a welcome move, has decided to keep Iran on its blacklist. Mark Dubowitz and Toby Dershowitz write:
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the intergovernmental organization that sets global standards to combat money laundering and finance for terrorism and [nuclear] proliferation, had a clear message for financial institutions last week when it declined to remove the Islamic Republic of Iran from its high-risk blacklist: Iran may say it’s open for business but it’s not yet safe to do it.
FATF’s directive was a clear rejection of the Islamic Republic’s lobbying campaign to legitimize itself as a responsible financial actor. . . . FATF urged its members and all jurisdictions to “advise their financial institutions to apply enhanced due diligence to business relationships and transactions” with Iran.
This enhanced due diligence will prove a nightmare for businesses for important reasons. [Most significantly], many Iranian companies—including entities such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU—use non-transparent corporate structures and shadow companies to hide their true ownership interests. . . .
Most large banks for now may not be fooled by the Islamic Republic’s rhetoric. They will continue to implement strict countermeasures since FATF requirements are considered the floor [rather than] the ceiling for responsible risk management. Those who care about long-term protection of their assets are not rushing back into Iran because they understand the risks of getting entangled in massive money-laundering, corruption, and terror-financing schemes that pose unmanageable risks to their stakeholders.
Read more on Foundation for Defense of Democracies: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/dubowitz-mark-risky-business-in-iran/