WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo spoke with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa. They discussed security and economic stability in the West Bank as well as the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to improve its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. Deputy Secretary Adeyemo stressed the importance of preventing terrorists and violent extremists from raising, using, and moving funds in the West Bank. He noted the Palestinian Authority’s progress on strengthening its CFT regime to further support these relationships, including by completing key milestones related to the assessment of AML/CFT risks within its jurisdiction and bolstering effective compliance with international standards.
Deputy Secretary Adeyemo commended the Palestinian Authority for completing a risk assessment of their financial system, as well as scheduling a MENAFATF evaluation of their banking system. These are both critical steps for ensuring financial linkages between the Palestinian territories and the international financial system continue. They discussed the importance of the correspondent banking relationships between Israeli and Palestinian banks to the security and economic stability of the region.
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