Japan denies seeking Myanmar’s removal from blacklist

Japan’s Ministry of Finance has denied pushing for Myanmar to be removed from a global financial watchdog’s blacklist after a report said last week that it was among countries supporting the removal.

Myanmar was added to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) blacklist in 2022 as the country was plunged into turmoil and widespread civil war following a military coup. The blacklist requires countries to apply enhanced screening to financial transactions with Myanmar to avoid money laundering and terrorist financing.

“There is no fact that the Japanese government sought to have Myanmar removed from the FATF blacklist,“ the ministry said in a statement to reporters. “Japan hopes that Myanmar will make the necessary improvements to strengthen its measures against money laundering and related illicit activities.”

Myanmar remained on the blacklist following a closed-door meeting of the 40-member global body in Paris on Oct. 30. Japan did not state at the Paris meeting that it wanted Myanmar removed, the ministry said in its statement.

It was reported on Oct. 30 that Japan was pushing for Myanmar’s removal, according to a senior Japanese government official and another person familiar with the matter. One of the people, reached on Thursday, said they stood by their comments, while the other could not be immediately reached for comment.

A spokesperson for Myanmar’s military-backed government said in a message on Saturday that various “friendly countries” were supporting its efforts to be removed from the list.

“The United States, China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia recognize Myanmar’s efforts. We are grateful to all of them for acknowledging Myanmar’s current progress,” the spokesperson added, without elaborating.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said it was “encouraging Myanmar to abide by FATF duties, and closely coordinating with FATF member countries on the issue.”

The government “is making efforts to strengthen the capabilities of countries that have not fully implemented FATF standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing,” the ministry said.

All the other countries named by the spokesperson either declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment.

Myanmar’s military-backed government did not immediately have comment on Japan’s denial that it was pushing to have Myanmar removed from the list.