Algeria in Global Watchlist of Money Laundering & Terrorism Financing Countries

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global financial crime watchdog, has included Algeria in the list of money laundering & terrorism financing countries.

The FATF has made the decision during its plenary meeting held lately in Paris with the participation of delegates from the FATF’s Global Network of over 200 jurisdictions and observers from international organizations.

Algeria is run by an opaque military, political, and security system wherein the Generals and secret intelligence agencies rule behind scene. Prior to the presidential elections, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune signed a presidential decree increasing the militarization of the State. The decree allows senior officers to benefit from a secondment mechanism. This offers them the possibility of being placed at the head of public civilian administrations.

Foreign investors and FATF are seriously concerned about the lack of separation of powers and transparency in business, especially in transactions involving state-owned enterprises and military contracts. The opaque system prevailing in Algeria makes it difficult to trace financial flows which facilitate money laundering operations.

The international community is also concerned about Algerian regime ties and financial support to separatist groups with connections to terrorist networks operating in the Sahel-Saharan region.

The Military’s grip on power and the reluctance of Algerian security services to cooperate with their foreign counterparts undermines the global efforts to combat the financing of terrorism.

For these reasons, Algeria has been placed under increased monitoring by the FATF which called on Algerian authorities to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.