With the release of its annual report, the **Financial Action Task Force (FATF)** provides an overview of the achievements for 2007-2008.
One strategic outcome of the year was the approval by FATF Ministers of a revised mandate. The four principal objectives under this revised mandate are: (i) to establish and maintain global standards and measures for countering money laundering and terrorist financing; (ii) to foster and assess the implementation of those standards; (iii) to identify money laundering and terrorist financing methods and trends; and, (iv) to expand co-operation with stakeholders and partners in order to make the system work effectively and globally.
FATF President Sir James Sassoon notes that one of his key priorities was to *” develop a more open and constructive working partnership with the private sector in order to raise awareness of the FATF’s work, to inform FATF policymaking and to encourage more effective implementation of AML/CFT measures.”* He maintains that significant progress was made on this front, including the first ever meeting with representatives of the private sector to discuss specific money laundering and terrorist financing methods; the establishment of a private sector consultative forum so that the FATF has an open dialogue with private sector stakeholders on AML/CFT issues; and the publication of new guidance on the risk-based approach for accountants, dealers in precious metals and precious stones, real estate agents, and trust and company service providers.
Speaking to the “typologies” work of the FATF, the President says the task force has continued its initiatives in this area, finalising reports on Terrorist Financing, Proliferation Financing, Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing Threat Assessment Strategies and Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Vulnerabilities of Commercial Websites and Internet Payment Systems. Additionally, the FATF also introduced a new surveillance function to identify and examine emerging threats, including committing to produce a Global Threat Assessment. This will allow the FATF to be more strategic and forward looking in identifying new threats, enabling a more efficient, rapid and focused policy response.
The 2007-2008 Report *(see link below)* includes an overview of the three new studies on money laundering typologies. Generally, FATF typologies describe and explain the nature and methods of money laundering and terrorist financing in order to help develop adequate global responses to those threats.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), created in 1989, is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. As a policy making body, the FATF works to generate the necessary political will to bring about legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas. The FATF has published 40 + 9 Recommendations in order to meet this objective.
The FATF standards have now been endorsed directly by 180 jurisdictions, representing more than 85% of the world.