OUTCOMES OF JOINT FATF/GAFILAT PLENARY
On 1st to 3rd November FATF and GAFILAT (formerly known as Financial Action Task Force of South America or GAFISUD) held a joint plenary in Argentina. The outcomes included –
- North Korea – approval of a statement about the proliferation financing risk emanating from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, stressing global obligations and the importance of robust implementation of the FATF standards and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions;
- adoption of a report on the financing of recruitment for terrorist purposes – the Plenary discussed and adopted a report, The Financing of Recruitment for Terrorist Purposes. The report sets out how terrorist organisations fund the recruitment of new members. Following a period of direct engagement with selected stakeholders, the FATF will publish the report;
- adoption of revisions to Recommendations 18 and 21 on information sharing, and the adoption of guidance on private sector information sharing – FATF has agreed on revisions to the Interpretive Note on Recommendation 18 to clarify the requirements on sharing of information related to unusual or suspicious transactions within financial groups. This also includes providing this information to branches and subsidiaries when necessary for AML/CFT risk management. The FATF also adopted revisions to Recommendation 21 to clarify the interaction of these requirements with tipping-off provisions. The FATF adopted Guidance on Private Sector Information Sharing, which identifies the key challenges that inhibit sharing of information to manage AML/CFT risks, both group-wide within financial groups, and between financial institutions which are not part of the same group. It articulates how the FATF standards on information sharing apply and highlights examples of how authorities can facilitate the sharing of information, as well as examples of constructive engagement between the public and the private sectors;
- adoption of a supplement to the 2013 FATF Guidance on AML/CFT Measures and Financial Inclusion;
- call for Brazil to fulfil its FATF membership commitment by taking further action to fully address its identified shortcomings. As the next step in its follow-up process, Brazil has committed to an action plan for addressing the remaining deficiencies in its regime for implementing targeted financial sanctions. Should Brazil continue to fail to adequately rectify these deficiencies, in line with its action plan, the FATF will consider further steps in its follow-up process;
- considered progress on the 2016 Action Plan agreed with Iran (with the suspension of countermeasures against Iran being renewed in June 2017) and the FATF urged Iran to proceed swiftly in the reform path to ensure full and accurate implementation of the Action Plan, addressing all remaining AML/CFT deficiencies, in particular those related to terrorist financing. At its February 2018 meeting, FATF will assess progress made by Iran and take all appropriate action
- adopted revisions to the Methodology for assessing compliance with the FATF Recommendations. These revisions clarify how assessors should determine whether legal arrangements have a similar structure or function as trusts and are, therefore, within the scope of the FATF standards on legal arrangements (Recommendation 25), and update the assessment criteria for proliferation-related targeted financial sanctions to bring the Methodology fully into line with the recent revisions to the FATF standards in this area (Recommendation 7).
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfgeneral/documents/outcomes-plenary-november-2017.html
Update on high-risk and on-cooperative jurisdictions–
| Jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies | Jurisdictions no longer subject to the FATF’s on-going global AML/CFT compliance process | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina Ethiopia Iraq Sri Lanka Syria Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Vanuatu Yemen | Uganda |
See more detail at –
NEW FATF GUIDANCE ON INFORMATION-SHARING
The finalised guidance aims to improve effective information sharing, one of the cornerstones of the FATF Recommendations. It contains a number of country examples, including examples of collaboration with authorities responsible for data protection and privacy.
UPDATED FATF GUIDANCE ON AML/CFT MEASURES AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION, WITH A SUPPLEMENT ON CUSTOMER DUE DILIGENCE
This 2017 supplement to the 2013 guidance provides country examples of customer due diligence measures adapted to the context of financial inclusion. Those examples illustrate how a simplified set of CDD measures or alternative forms of identity verification, for example the use of e-identity tools, can support financial inclusion, while appropriately mitigating the ML/TF risks.
The objective of this updated report is to encourage countries to make use of FATF Recommendations’ flexibility to provide sound financial services to the financially excluded.
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/financialinclusion/documents/financial-inclusion-cdd-2017.html
FATF STATEMENT ON NORTH KOREA (DPRK)
Full statement on DPRK and Iran –
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