Morocco Isn't a Terrorist-Funding Country
The Claim
America adds Morocco to the “grey list” of terrorist-funding countries.
News posted on
Emerging story
Since February 26th, claims have been circulating on social media that the United States has added Morocco to the “grey list” of terrorist-funding countries.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found this claim to be misleading. On February 25th, The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released a list of countries that entered the FATF’s “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring list,” often referred to as the “grey list.”
According to their website, the FATF is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The FATF monitors countries to ensure they implement the FATF Standards fully and effectively and holds countries to account that does not comply.
When a country is added to the grey list, “ it means the country has committed to resolving swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring.”
There is no evidence or news sources claiming that the US itself has classified Morocco as a “terrorist-funding country”. This claim was likely spread after the news of The FAFT adding Morocco to its “grey list.”
It was recently reported that the European Union has removed Morocco from the grey list of tax havens, following a meeting of the Council of Economic and Financial Affairs in the Union.
This is positive news for Morocco, meaning that the EU recognizes Morocco’s efforts to comply with international tax governance standards.
