Saudi Arabia becomes 1st Arab country to get FATF membership
Riyadh, June 22: Saudi Arabia has become the first Arab country to be granted full membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) following the group''s annual general meeting in the US.
The kingdom''s accession came as the global money laundering watchdog celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first meeting held in Paris in 1989, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia which had received an invitation from the FATF at the beginning of 2015 to join as an "observer member", was admitted into the organization after the group''s meeting in Orlando, Florida, on Friday.
Saudi Arabia had been a founding member of the MENA arm of the group since November 2004, and its full membership came after it was reported the kingdom had made "tangible progress" and for its efforts in implementing the FATF''s guidelines.
The group is responsible for issuing international standards, policies and best practices to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation.
With the kingdom becoming a FATF member, the number of permanent members in the group is now 39.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Maharashtra Cong chief Nana Patole scrapes through in Sakoli, wins by 208 votes
Mumbai, Nov 23: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole survived a scare from his nearest BJP rival in the Sakoli assembly constituency but managed to win the tight contest by a narrow margin of 208 votes.
Patole, the incumbent Congress MLA from Sakoli, polled 96,795 votes, while his challenger from BJP, Avinash Brahmankar, came tantalisingly close to bagging 96,587 votes.
Independent nominee Somadatta Karanjekar was a distant third, bagging 18,309 votes.
While Patole managed to save the face with the thin margin, the Congress unit led by him and the Maha Vikas Aghadi were routed by the BJP-led Mahayuti in the one-sided contest.
