The Secretariat of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced in Paris today that Ministers and their representatives from FATF member countries will meet on Friday *”to discuss the future of the Task Force”.*
At the meeting, being held in Paris at the OECD’s Headquarters, the thirty-three members are expected to review both the duration and the tasks of the FATF’s mandate to combat money-laundering. Today’s announcement said that the FATF does not have a tightly defined constitution or an unlimited life span. Its mission is reviewed every five years and *”it will only continue to exist if its member governments agree that it is necessary.”*
**Background**
The Financial Action Task Force was established by the G-7 Summit in Paris in 1989 to develop and promote international polices to combat money-laundering. Original members were the G-7 member states, the European Commission and eight other countries. Membership grew to twenty-eight countries over the years that followed, and now comprises 33 members. It is an independent, inter-governmental organisation whose Secretariat is housed at the OECD.
In 1990, the FATF issued the Forty Recommendations – a comprehensive plan to fight money laundering. The Recommendations were revised and strengthened in 1996 and in 2003. In 2001, the FATF developed the Eight Special Recommendations to assist in the fight against terrorist financing.
Member countries and territories of the FATF include: Argentina; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brazil; Canada; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Luxembourg; Mexico; the Kingdom of the Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Portugal; the Russian Federation; Singapore, South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; United Kingdom; and the United States. The European Commission and the Gulf Co-operation Council are also members.