MNA – The Public Relations of the Expediency Council in a statement has rejected rumors that the two remaining FATF-related bills, namely the Palermo and CFT, have been given the final green light by the Council.

“These bills are still being evaluated at the joint commission of the Expediency Council,” the statement read. “The commission has not yet reached a conclusion on whether to reject or to approve the two remaining FATF-related bills, namely the Palermo and CFT.”

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering body, has given Iran a final deadline of February 2020 to implement a set of four bills to meet the standards set by the watchdog.

Last October, Iran's Parliament passed the four bills, but only two of them have so far gone into effect.

The Expediency Council is in charge of deciding the fate of the two other bills, namely one on Iran’s accession to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, commonly known in Iran as ‘Palermo’, and the other one a bill amending Iran’s Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) law.

Those against the endorsement of the FATF-related bills say the move would impose further restrictions on Iran’s economic relations while the country is under US severe sanctions.

“It is not in the country’s best interest to make its dealings transparent to institutions such as FATF,” Mesbahi Moghadam, a member of the Expediency Council had said.