A unit in Afghanistan's central bank leading a 15-year effort to counter illicit funding flows has halted operations, four staff members said, threatening to hasten the country's slide out of the global financial system.
Since 2006, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Afghanistan has gathered intelligence on thousands of suspicious transactions and helped convict smugglers and terrorist financiers, according to its website.
Such units, which scrutinise money flows for potential suspicious activity, are critical for any nation that seeks to participate in the global financial community, said Stuart Jones, Jr., founder and chief executive of risk intelligence firm Sigma Ratings.Reconnecting with the financial system could be complicated by existing sanctions against the Taliban and the fact that a senior government minister heads a U.S.-designated terrorist organisation.
Three staff members said some of FinTRACA's 60-odd employees had left Afghanistan or gone underground in recent weeks. Some FinTRACA staff returned to the office last week after a request by acting central bank governor, Haji Mohammad Idris - a Taliban loyalist - for all central bank staff to be present in the bank, said one of the employees.
FinTRACA was disconnected from Egmont Group's international secure server on Aug. 15, the day the Taliban took Kabul, Egmont Group said on Sept. 2.
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