Compliance with FATF standards: jurisdictions under supervision
Bulgaria has joined the list of jurisdictions under enhanced scrutiny, while Albania, the Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama have left the list.
Assessment of Brazil: although measures to combat the financing of terrorism have improved in recent years, major improvements are still needed if they are to be effective.
Misuse of citizenship and residency programmes by investment
While citizenship and residency by investment programmes (CBI/RBI: government-administered programmes granting citizenship or residency to foreign investors by expediting or bypassing normal immigration procedures) can help stimulate economic growth, they also attract criminals and corrupt officials seeking to launder the proceeds of crime.
The FATF has completed a joint report with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) exploring the risks associated with these programmes, proposing measures and citing examples of good practice. The report will be published in November.
Beneficial ownership and transparency
Bulgaria has joined the list of jurisdictions under enhanced scrutiny, while Albania, the Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama have left the list.
Assessment of Brazil: although measures to combat the financing of terrorism have improved in recent years, major improvements are still needed if they are to be effective.
Misuse of citizenship and residency programmes by investment
While citizenship and residency by investment programmes (CBI/RBI: government-administered programmes granting citizenship or residency to foreign investors by expediting or bypassing normal immigration procedures) can help stimulate economic growth, they also attract criminals and corrupt officials seeking to launder the proceeds of crime.
The FATF has completed a joint report with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) exploring the risks associated with these programmes, proposing measures and citing examples of good practice. The report will be published in November.
Beneficial ownership and transparency
- Revised methodology: With a view to assessing beneficial ownership and transparency in the next round of mutual evaluations, the Plenary approved amendments to the methodology for the next round of mutual evaluations which set out how evaluation teams will determine the effective implementation of the FATF's updated beneficial ownership and transparency requirements. This revised methodology for the next round of evaluations will be published in November
- Risk-based recommendations - public consultation: The FATF is developing updated risk-based guidance on Recommendation 25 on beneficial ownership and transparency of legal arrangements. This will reflect the revisions made in February 2023 to Recommendation 25, and will complement the guidance in Recommendation 24 on legal persons. These revised guidelines will be put out to public consultation before finalising this work at its plenary meeting in February 2024.
FATF member countries :
While Indonesia is now a full member, the Russian Federation remains suspended.
Improving asset recovery:
While asset recovery has been made a priority in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, countries currently recover only a small proportion of criminal assets, allowing criminals to profit and perpetuate illegal activities. In collaboration with INTERPOL, the FATF has proposed significant changes to the Recommendations which have been approved. These will provide countries with better tools for the freezing, seizure and confiscation of assets, and emphasise the priority of asset recovery, non-conviction-based confiscation and the possibility of suspending transactions linked to financial crime. The FATF's objective is to make asset recovery a central element of global crime prevention strategies.
These recommendations will be published in November.
Note: The FATF has drafted a report analysing the Asset Recovery Network (ARIN) model, containing recommendations aimed at strengthening collaboration between the global network and ensuring effective tools for investigators and prosecutors. The report will be published in November.
Combating the abuse of NPOs for terrorist financing purposes
The FATF has approved amendments to its Recommendations aimed at protecting non-profit organisations (NPOs) from potential terrorist financing abuse which, among other things, clarify that Recommendation 8 applies to a subset of the NPO sector as defined by the FATF. Countries are required to identify NPOs at risk of terrorist financing abuse and implement targeted, proportionate and risk-based measures to mitigate these risks, without over-regulating the sector. The FATF will update its methodology for mutual evaluations with these new standards.
The FATF has updated its best practices document to align with these changes to Recommendation 8. The updated Recommendations and Best Practices document will be published in November.
Crowdfunding for terrorist financing
In response to the emerging risk of terrorist financing, the FATF has analysed in a report (to be published on 31 October) the exploitation of fundraising platforms and crowdfunding activities by terrorists. The FATF identifies and explores crowdfunding and urges countries to fully apply the standards relating to virtual assets, NPOs and money or value transfer services, and to avoid treating crowdfunding as a compartmentalised sector.
Illicit financial flows due to cyber fraud
In partnership with the Egmont Group and INTERPOL, the FATF has analysed the methods used for electronic fraud, its links with other forms of crime and how criminals can exploit the vulnerabilities of new technologies, in a report to be published in November.
The report identifies risk indicators and useful anti-fraud requirements and controls to detect and prevent cyber fraud and related money laundering.
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