Prominent Iraqi economist Manar Al-Obaidi has welcomed Iraq’s newly agreed roadmap with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), describing it as a vital step toward maintaining the country’s integration with the global banking system.

Al-Obaidi stressed that Iraq must fully implement anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures across all provinces to avoid serious economic consequences.

His remarks came after the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad announced that Iraq had committed to addressing weaknesses in its financial monitoring system following a two-year review. The plan requires Iraq to strengthen oversight of informal money transfers, expand corruption and terrorism-financing investigations, regulate virtual assets and cryptocurrencies, and enforce international financial sanctions.

While praising Iraq’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Office for helping the country avoid immediate penalties, Al-Obaidi warned that failure to meet FATF requirements could result in Iraq being placed on the FATF blacklist, leading to financial isolation and economic hardship.

“This is not the end of the process but the beginning of a challenging phase of compliance that requires coordinated efforts from government institutions and the private sector,” he said.