FATF is an intergovernmental body founded in 1989 to develop and introduce international standards that aim to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF). At present, the FAFT includes 37 jurisdictions and 2 international organizations.
The main instructive document of the FATF is constituted by 40 recommendations in the area of ML/TF. The recommendations are recognized by over 190 countries, including Russia that has participated in the activities of the FATF since 2003. The body is run by the President of the FATF elected for a two-year term. The incumbent President of the FAFT is T. Raja Kumar from Singapore. The secretariat of the FATF is in Paris, in the OECD headquarters.
The key decisions are adopted in the plenary meetings of the FATF that are held three times a year.
The 40 recommendations in the area of ML/TF do not regard directly the fight against corruption. However, the FATF has been paying increasing attention to anti-corruption matters, considering corruption as a key predicate offence to money-laundering.
In 2011 the FAFT convened an anti-corruption expert meeting. It drafted a number of important guiding documents for the evaluation of corruption risks and the application of the FATF recommendations to counter corruption. It also closely cooperates with the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group, with which it holds annual joint meetings.
The FATF does not have a separate mechanism for evaluating the implementation of anti-corruption measures by member states. These aspects are tackled in the framework of a wider monitoring of the implementation of the FATF recommendations by member states.
The monitoring is implemented through peer reviews that demonstrate if the ML/TF system of a member state corresponds to the FATF recommendations. Then the country is ranked under each recommendation.
After the evaluation is completed and approved by the FATF experts, a more detailed analysis is undertaken in the areas where the evaluated ML/FT system has major flaws.
Two years after that the evaluated country should submit a report on the measures adopted to eliminate the detected flaws. Following the examination of the report the FATF decides if the achieved progress is sufficient or not.
All reports are available here.
