FATF Discloses Outcomes of October Plenary Meeting

The international regulatory authority, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), concluded its fourth plenary meeting from Oct 25 to 27 and discussed global crimes relating to money laundering and terrorist financing. 

The fourth plenary of the FATF under the supervision of the President T. Raja Kumar of Singapore concluded in three days. Members from the global FATF network, jurisdiction and law enforcement agencies worldwide took part and discussed the latest AML measures to combat global economic crimes. All members emphasised the need for an enhanced system to comply with FATF standards. This includes sharing information about terrorist activities and suspicious transactions reporting, utilising advanced technology in the financial institutes to cut the bad actors and the terrorists from their sources. 

FATF also agreed to reveal the report on crowdfunding for terrorism financing. Members further accepted the revisions to identify the Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) under recommendation 8. Moreover, FATF claimed they would enhance working on countries’ jurisdictions to criminalise terrorist financing. Additionally, delegates agreed to adopt an enhanced set of amendments to the international standards that will provide countries with strengthened controls to deprive criminals from proceeding with financial crimes. 

FATF added Indonesia as a 40th member. The country must comply with all the latest obligations passed in February 2023. The Indonesian government claimed to follow international regulations to prevent money laundering and terrorist funding and safeguard the integrity of the global economic system. Indonesia will get all the membership benefit rights and will comply with the upcoming rigid obligations of the FATF in AML derivatives. Delegates also discussed Brazil’s financial system and enforced the joint risk assessment of Brazil. 

Additionally, FATF removed Albania, the Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama from the high-risk monitoring after elevating on-site visits and ensuring their AML compliance system. In the next round, they will observe how effective the member countries are in upholding the latest Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) and corporate transparency requirements.

The president urges member countries to recover assets from criminals and enforce asset recovery is a vital pillar for all countries to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The Singapore Presidency also stressed the digital asset regulatory systems to prevent companies from cryptocurrency money laundering scams. FATF demanded enhanced collaboration between law enforcement agencies of countries and national or international Asset Recovery Networks (ARINs) to accelerate the process of asset tracing, freezing, seizure and confiscation.

FATF designates nations or regions that have significant strategic shortcomings in their efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist funding, and financing weapons of mass destruction proliferation. There is a need for action against certain states in order to safeguard the global financial system. FATF did not add any country to the list of high-risk or under-increased monitoring risks in this plenary meeting. 

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