BEIRUT/PARIS: Global financial crime watchdog FATF said on Friday it has placed Lebanon on its “grey list” of countries under special scrutiny.
Lebanon has been in a financial crisis since 2019 that has been left to fester by the country’s leaders and now faces growing damage from Israeli airstrikes and ground operations against Hezbollah.
Elisa de Anda Madrazo, president of the Financial Action Task Force, said Lebanon had been accorded some flexibility regarding deadlines set in its action plan, but did not provide details at a news conference.
“Of course we recognize the extreme, grave situation that Lebanon is currently facing,” she said.
“Lebanon’s status on the grey list should not impede relief efforts. ... We are working to make sure that channels of humanitarian aid remain open,” she added.
The FATF, a 40-member organization based in Paris, is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement later on Friday that the country’s placement on the FATF grey list was an expected move “given the known circumstances that hindered the approval of necessary financial legislations and reforms.”
He said that Lebanon has made progress in implementing many recommended actions from the mutual evaluation report and will continue to cooperate with the FATF.
Mikati also said that Lebanon’s relationships with correspondent banks will not be affected by this classification.
A source told Reuters earlier on Friday that the war had led the FATF to give Lebanon until 2026, instead of 2025, to address the issues that led to its grey-listing, including concerns over terrorism financing and a lack of judicial independence.
The grey-listing is likely to further deter investment in Lebanon and could affect the relationship between some Lebanese banks and the global financial system.
Watchdog FATF places Lebanon on financial crime watchlist
https://arab.news/zn52s
Watchdog FATF places Lebanon on financial crime watchlist
- Elisa de Anda Madrazo, president of the Financial Action Task Force, said Lebanon had been accorded some flexibility regarding deadlines set in its action plan
- Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the country’s placement on the FATF grey list was an expected move
Work suspended on Riyadh’s massive Mukaab megaproject: Reuters
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project's financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-meter by 400-meter metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-meter-tall ziggurat — or terraced structure —inside it.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project's development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion — roughly equivalent to Jordan’s GDP — with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million.
Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030. It is now slated to be completed by 2040.
The development was intended to house 104,000 residential units and add SR180 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP, creating 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, the government had estimated previously.
(With Reuters)
