Nepal AML/CFT in Annual Report 2024–25: STRs Surge 30% as FIU Reporting Hits Record High

Nepal’s AML/CFT System in Numbers: Inside the Annual Report 2024-25, STRs Hit 9,565 as Digital Reporting Took Over

Why Nepal’s AML Numbers Matter in 2024/25

In February 2025, Nepal entered the FATF “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” list, putting unprecedented pressure on its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system. Against this backdrop, the Financial Intelligence Unit of Nepal (FIU-Nepal) published an unusually data-heavy annual report for FY 2024/25, explicitly focusing on statistics, volumes, and operational outputs rather than institutional narrative.

The numbers tell a clear story: reporting surged, digital coverage expanded nationwide, and financial intelligence dissemination reached record levels — even as analytical capacity remains stretched.

This OSIN breaks down the year entirely through numbers.

1. STRs Cross a Psychological Threshold

The headline figure of the year is unmistakable:

9,565 Suspicious Transaction / Activity Reports (STRs/SARs) were filed in FY 2024/25 — a 30% year-on-year increase from 7,338 in FY 2023/24 .

This continues a five-year growth curve:

In just four years, STR volumes increased more than six-fold, reflecting both rising compliance and rising risk exposure.

2. Digital Reporting Reaches Full Penetration

For the first time since the launch of Nepal’s goAML system, 100% of STRs/SARs were submitted digitally.

• 98.37% of TTRs (Threshold Transaction Reports) were also filed via goAML
• Only 36,445 TTRs were submitted via hard copy, down sharply from 151,916 the previous year

This transition matters because FIU-Nepal’s analytical capacity is directly tied to digital intake — paper-based reporting previously delayed triage and case linkage.

3. Reporting Entities Nearly Double in One Year

The number of entities integrated into goAML jumped from 1,639 to 3,497 in a single fiscal year — an increase of 113.36%.

The growth was especially pronounced in non-financial and high-risk sectors:

• Cooperatives: 1,010 → 1,766
• Dealers in Precious Metals & Stones: 121 → 1,121
• Money Changers: 128 → 203
• Payment Service Providers / Operators: 3,260 → 13,922 TTRs reported

By October 2025, 4,098 entities (REs, LEAs, and supervisors combined) were connected to the system nationwide.

4. STR Reporting Is No Longer Bank-Only

Commercial banks still dominate STR reporting — but less so than before.

In FY 2024/25:

• Commercial banks filed 7,303 STRs, accounting for 76.4% of all STRs
• This share declined from 84.2% the year before, as insurance companies, securities firms, PSPs, and cooperatives increased reporting

This diversification is critical for FATF effectiveness outcomes, which emphasize DNFBP and non-bank coverage.

5. Total TTRs Surge Past 2.2 Million

FIU-Nepal received 2,236,067 TTRs in FY 2024/25 — a 31.7% increase from the previous year.

Key contributors:

• BFIs: 1.11 million
• Securities companies: 768,741
• Insurance companies: 260,631
• PSPs/PSOs: 13,922

Notably, TTRs from non-bank entities now account for ~50% of all TTRs, up from 35% the year before — a structural shift in Nepal’s AML data landscape .

6. Analysis Capacity Lags Reporting Growth

While reporting volumes exploded, analysis capacity struggled to keep pace:

• 2,282 STRs/SARs were analyzed, representing ~24% of total submissions
• This was a 39.6% increase from the previous year, but still far below intake growth
• 1,337 STRs/SARs were postponed due to low risk, incomplete data, or insufficient suspicion

The report explicitly acknowledges capacity constraints and the need for automation and AI-assisted triage.

7. Dissemination Reaches Record Highs

FIU-Nepal disseminated 945 intelligence reports to law enforcement and regulators — the highest annual figure to date.

After removing duplicates sent to multiple agencies:

• 908 unique STRs/SARs were disseminated

Five-year trend:

• 2020/21: 192
• 2021/22: 409
• 2022/23: 505
• 2023/24: 889
• 2024/25: 908

This near-five-fold increase since 2020 reflects growing operational maturity.

8. Nepal Police Absorb the Bulk of Intelligence

Agency-wise dissemination shows a heavy investigative concentration:

• Nepal Police: 845 disseminations
• Inland Revenue Department: 30
• Department of Revenue Investigation: 17
• CIAA (anti-corruption): 6
• Nepal Insurance Authority: 2

This highlights Nepal Police as the primary downstream consumer of AML intelligence .

9. Predicate Offences Shift Toward Fraud and Tax

STRs/SARs increasingly reflect economic crime rather than generic ML labels.

Top predicate offence categories in FY 2024/25 include:

• Money & banking offences
• Tax-related offences
• Fraud-related offences
• Firm/company misuse
• Corruption and bribery

Importantly, new categories appeared for the first time, including:

• Virtual currency-related STRs
• Hundi-related informal value transfer
• Undue transactions

10. Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) Detection Improves

TBML-related STRs nearly doubled, rising from 22 to 43 year-on-year.

Although TBML is not a standalone predicate offence under Nepalese law, FIU-Nepal introduced dedicated reporting fields for A-class banks, resulting in:

• Better typology capture
• Granular sub-categories (over-/under-invoicing, fake documents, phantom shipments)

What the Numbers Ultimately Say

Nepal’s AML/CFT system in FY 2024/25 shows three simultaneous realities:

1. Compliance and coverage expanded rapidly
2. Digital infrastructure reached maturity
3. Analytical depth remains the bottleneck

The numbers demonstrate progress — but also explain why FATF continues to demand effectiveness over volume.

For OSIN readers, the message is clear: Nepal is reporting more than ever — the next test is converting data into convictions.