Asia Pacific Group removes Russia's observer status over Ukraine war

Citing Russia's ongoing aggression in Ukraine, the Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering revoked Moscow's observer status, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. The decision to remove Russia's status was taken last month in Malaysia during the annual meeting of the APG, which has India, China, and Pakistan as its key members. 

Russia was one of the APG observers since 2010. 

"The decision to terminate its APG status was based on the Financial Action Task Force's June 2022 decision to restrict its FATF membership rights. Should the Russian Federation wish to re-establish its APG observer status in the future, it must re-submit an observer application for consideration by the governance committee," the APG said in a statement.

APG was established and funded by Australia in 1995 and is among the largest Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional bodies in terms of membership numbers and geographical size. China has been APG's founding member since 1997. The group has a permanent and a rotating co-chair, while the former is held by Australia, the latter is currently held by Malaysia. 

APG's move to remove Russia's observer status comes after the FATF in June stated that Moscow's actions in Ukraine  "run counter to the FATF core principles aiming to promote security, safety and the integrity of the global financial system".

The global anti-money laundering agency said, "Russia's actions also represent a gross violation of the commitment to international cooperation and mutual respect upon which FATF members have agreed to implement and support the FATF standards."