Update of the 40 FATF Recommendations Published

The updated FATF Recommendations on International Standards for Countering Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction have recently been published.

The FATF Recommendations define a comprehensive and coherent framework of measures that countries should implement to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Countries have different legal, administrative, and operational frameworks and financial systems, and therefore cannot all adopt identical measures to counter these threats. The FATF Recommendations, therefore, establish an international standard that countries must implement through measures tailored to their particular circumstances. The Recommendations are accompanied by “Interpretative Notes” and a Glossary of definitions which form an integral part of the standards.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental body established in 1989 within the OECD with the aim of defining and promoting strategies to combat money laundering at the national and international levels. On the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary in 2019, the FATF was made a permanent body and an updated mandate was approved, confirming its central role in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
The International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation, summarized in forty Recommendations and fully updated in 2012, constitute the reference principles that countries are called upon to adopt in the context of their respective legal, administrative and financial systems.
The FATF conducts intensive work to promote and monitor the application of international principles, in order to strengthen the commitment of States and increase the effectiveness of national measures to prevent and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.