In the context of GAFILAT’s (Financial Action Task Force of Latin America) Mutual Evaluation process of Paraguay, which began in late 2021, representatives of the evaluation committee and Paraguayan authorities met in person in Buenos Aires in February in order to review GAFILAT’s preliminary observations, made after its in-country evaluative mission. The government awaits, in this second half of March, receipt of the final draft of the report and the provisional assessment given to the country, which will not be made public until it is approved. The process will conclude with the full meeting of GAFILAT, which is due to take place in July of 2022, and in which the final results of the evaluation will be approved and made public.
In the context of this evaluation, and looking to avoid a negative assessment, which could entail Paraguay’s entry into GAFI’s “gray list” and could significantly affect the country’s economy and international trade, Paraguay has, within the last three years, enacted a package of laws focused on fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as significantly increased investigation, prosecution, and exemplary sentencing of these crimes.
More information provided by the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money and Asset Laundering is available here