Stand:updated on 25.04.2018 | Topic Anti-money laundering Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering - FATF
Germany is a member of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which was formed in 1989. The FATF is the most important international body tasked with combating money laundering and terrorist financing. It sets standards (“The FATF Recommendations”) to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, promotes the worldwide recognition of the standards and monitors their implementation in the member states.
The FATF is situated at the OECD in Paris and has 37 members (35 countries and the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council). The German FATF delegation, which is led by the German Federal Ministry of Finance, usually includes BaFin representatives.
The FATF issued a total of 40 Recommendations to combat money laundering in 1990. These key international standards were updated for the first time in 1996 and were thoroughly revised (under the German FATF presidency of former BaFin President Jochen Sanio) in 2003. In 2012 those most important international standards were fundamentally updated and revised.
In October 2001, the FATF’s mandate was expanded to include measures to combat terrorist financing in response to the September 11 terror attacks. The FATF then published eight “Special Recommendations” on terrorist financing, adding a new Special Recommendation in 2004. It also issued various interpretative notes and best practice papers. In 2012 these nine “Special Recommendations” were summed up with the other recommendations.
Although the standards constitute soft law, more than 170 countries now recognise them as being binding.
The 40 Recommendations set out uniform rules of conduct and standards that apply to the entire financial sector and to all of the individuals and professional groups involved for the first time. The revision of the standards took into account the latest knowledge and developments in the fight against money laundering, against terrorist financing and against proliferation. In the updated FATF Recommendations the focus has been placed on the risk-based approach.
The FATF regularly adopts interpretation principles, mainly Guidance-Papers and Best-Practice-Papers.
The member states are:
(http://www.fatf-gafi.org/countries/#FATF)
The members include:
(as at: April 2018)
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong
• Iceland
• India
• Irland
• Italy
• Japan
• Korea
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Portugal
• Russian Federation
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States
