closing remarks by dr. chiranjibi nepal, governor, nepal rastra bank, at the 21st apg plenary meeting 27th july 2018, kathmandu distinguished apg co ‐ chairs, executive secretary and officials of apg fatf senior officials, distinguished delegates, ncc members and secretaries nepalese officials media representatives, ladies and gentlemen, very good afternoon! 1. i am privileged to speak at conclusion of this 21st apg plenary meetings running for a week. i am indeed honored to be with you at this august gathering with a brief closing remarks. 2. it is an immense pleasure for nepal to host this meeting and plenary. i am very much delighted with the apg and its members, fatf, the observers, and international institutions for the opportunity extended to us to host this occasion in kathmandu. 3. i have been informed that the meetings discussed mutual evaluation reports of indonesia, myanmar, palau, and cook islands. number of follow up reports and status reports were also considered in the course of meetings. intense discussions were made on mutual evaluation procedures, governance issues, technical as well as other seminars under international cooperation review group have been eyesight for members and observers. 4. the ta & t forum was another great opportunity for members and dap groups to sit together and find solutions for development of sound aml / cft systems and make effective global implementation. 5. managing de ‐ risking, identification of beneficial ownership and recovery of assets are the common threats facing by countries globally. i hope the conclusion from the seminar and discussion on these topics will certainly guide us to reorient our aml / cft related strategy toward addressing such problems. ladies and gentleman, 6. financial crime can inflict on the smooth functioning of the financial markets, payment systems and ultimately the financial sector stability goal of central banks. fin ‐ tech and virtual currencies are also posturing challenges to the central banks in dealing with aml issues. 7. the shift of fatf standards toward risk ‐ based approach, will support our financial system in the direction of inclusive growth and access to better financial services by discouraging the de ‐ risking. 8. the basel 2017 aml index report shows, during the period from 2012 – 2017, the index did not reflected significant change, indicating slow progress, high rates of perceived corruption, lack of judicial strength, lack of resources, and deficiency of financial transparency in the developing world. in addition to this, a large ‐ scale of tax evasion

implementing the goaml, developed by unodc is now at the final stage of go ‐ live in fiu ‐ nepal. 15. proper coordination and exchange of information among domestic and international authorities is critical for the implementation of aml / cft regime. we can note down the results of timely exchange of information in the recovery of substantial amount of money hacked from a commercial bank of nepal through the active use of egmont secured web ( esw ) by fiu ‐ nepal in october 2017. 16. nepal does not leave any stone unturned to go together with international communities for combating ml / tf. hence, nepal is concentrating on implementation and effectiveness so that we can take maximum benefit from the system. ladies and gentleman, 17. apg has been playing a very important role and have done excellent work over the years to foster implementation of the fatf standards in the asia / pacific region. nepal has been benefited a lot from apg ’ s support and among others in association with donors and providers ( dap ) groups on aml / cft area. 18. let me conclude here by thanking the organizer for giving me this opportunity to share some of thoughts at this august gathering. above all, i would like to thank you all for making this 2018 apg plenary a grand success through your valuable contributions and active participation. thank you so much and i wish you a sweet memory of this event!