At the conclusions of last week’s plenary, the FATF has issued a press release with salient updates and key developments.
It has also updated statements on jurisdictions, as well announced changes on increased monitoring.
Albania, Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama have been removed from the “grey-list” whilst EU member state Bulgaria has been placed on the increased monitoring list.
Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gibraltar, Haiti, Jamaica, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Türkiye, UAE, and Uganda, have updated statements since June 2023.
For full reference: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/content/fatf-gafi/en/publications/High-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/Increased-monitoring-october-2023.html
Full FATF Press Release:
Paris, 27 October 2023 – The fourth Plenary of the FATF under the Presidency of T. Raja Kumar of Singapore concluded today. Delegates from the FATF’s Global Network (of over 200 jurisdictions) and observers from international organisations participated in these discussions at the FATF headquarters in Paris.
During three days of meeting, delegates worked through a full agenda on key money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing issues.
The Plenary discussed the situation in the Middle East.
The FATF agreed to publish a key report on Crowdfunding for Terrorism Financing. Members also agreed on revisions to the FATF Recommendation 8, to clarify measures applying to NPOs. FATF will also scope work on countries’ criminalisation of terrorism financing (Recommendation 5).
FATF Members recognised the need for all jurisdictions to fully and effectively implement the FATF Standards. This includes analysing and sharing financial intelligence on terrorist financing networks and using financial and law enforcement tools, such as financial sanctions and confiscation, to cut off terrorists from their sources of revenue and weaken the infrastructure needed for these groups to accomplish their destructive goals. It also includes designating identified terrorists and terrorist groups pursuant to relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
In a major milestone, delegates also agreed on a significant set of amendments to the FATF Recommendations that will provide countries with a much stronger toolbox of measures to deprive criminals of the proceeds of crime, a priority of the FATF under the Singapore Presidency. To further improve global asset recovery efforts, FATF also released a report that sets out recommendations to strengthen the roles and use of asset recovery networks (ARINs) in pursuing transnational money laundering cases.
The FATF also adopted reports on Illicit Financial Flows from Cyber-Enabled Fraud and the Misuse of Citizenship and Residency by Investment Programmes.
Following recent amendments to beneficial ownership and transparency standards, delegates also agreed to release for public consultation the updated FATF Risk-Based Guidance on Recommendation 25 on Beneficial Ownership and Transparency of Legal Arrangements.
FATF welcomed Indonesia as its 40th Member.
Delegates discussed the joint FATF-GAFILAT assessment of Brazil.
The FATF also updated the statements identifying high-risk and other monitored jurisdictions and removed four countries from its increased monitoring following successful on-site visits.
In preparation for the next round of mutual evaluations, delegates finalised amendments to the FATF Methodology used to assess how effectively countries have implemented FATF’s beneficial ownership and transparency requirements.
Additionally, the FATF agreed to a comprehensive set of procedures that all relevant assessment bodies, including all FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs), will use to assess countries’ compliance with the FATF Standards in the next round of mutual evaluations. This shared framework for conducting mutual evaluations contributes to developing a more cohesive and inclusive Global Network.
