Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, on 17 October, passed bill 9296 to strengthen financial monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEPs). Lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak of the Holos party informed that 276 MPs voted for the bill, with no votes against it.
“The main innovation: instead of three years after leaving office, top officials will effectively have lifelong PEP status. But at the same time, the bill increases the responsibility of primary financial monitoring entities (like banks) for unjustified denial of services to customers,” Zhelezniak wrote.
According to him, the bill’s text corresponds to international anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) standards, which will count towards fulfilling IMF requirements.
“This is also the final step to begin EU membership talks,” Zhelezniak added.
In September, the Ukrainian parliament also passed the national minorities law and an amended law restoring full electronic asset declaration for officials, legislations mentioned among the European Commission’s recommendations for granting EU candidate status.
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