Nepal takes action to freeze terrorist assets

Nepal’s insurance regulator has instructed insurers to freeze assets and deny insurance services to individuals and organisations involved in terrorism, as part of efforts to be removed from the FATF grey list. The move follows criticism of Nepal’s weak implementation of targeted financial sanctions (TFS), a key factor behind its grey-listing since February. Under the Guidelines on Targeted Financial Sanctions for Insurers, 2025, insurers must block transactions, suspend insurance services, and prevent ownership or nominee transfers for UN-designated terrorist entities like Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Harakat-ul-Jihad Islami. Daily monitoring and automated checks against updated UN and domestic terrorist lists are required, with immediate freezing of any matched assets. Non-compliance can result in penalties ranging from NPR 1–50 million or license revocation. The regulator emphasized that these measures aim to deny terrorists funding for attacks or weapons proliferation, while insurers must maintain up-to-date systems to enforce sanctions effectively. @@@