FATF Annual Report 1992-1993

The fourth round of the Task Force, which was chaired by Australia, continued to focus on three priorities:

(i) monitoring the implementation by FATF members of the forty recommendations for combating money laundering set out in its first report; 

(ii) keeping track of developments in money laundering methods and examining appropriate counter-measures;

(iii) carrying out its external relations programme to promote world-wide action against money laundering.

The monitoring of members’ implementation of the Recommendations has been undertaken on the basis of the self-assessment and mutual evaluation procedures developed in the previous round.  Further refinements were made to the annual self-assessment exercise and this now provides a comprehensive and objective analysis of the state of implementation of the Recommendations across the membership. The 1992-93 exercise showed that members were making significant progress in this area. In particular, nearly all members have now made drug money laundering a criminal offence or are in the
process of doing so. 

The mutual evaluations of FATF members, which provide a more detailed examination of the measures to combat money laundering, are well under way. The number of evaluations doubled in 1992-1993 and nearly half of the FATF member jurisdictions have now been evaluated. Summaries of the 8 evaluations carried out in FATF-IV (Denmark, the United States, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland) are contained in the report. The evaluation process has proved to be a particularly effective monitoring mechanism which is of benefit not only to the country examined but to all members. The remaining evaluations are expected to be completed by the end of 1994.

FATF members participated in the work of the which, in November 1992, endorsed the FATF Recommendations and agreed to establish its own process to monitor their implementation by its members. In Central and Eastern Europe, the FATF held seminars in Budapest (attended by officials from a number of states from the region) and Warsaw. A seminar for Asian and Pacific states was held during the FATF’s September 1992 meeting in Sydney, Australia, and was followed by a major money laundering symposium for Asian countries in Singapore in April this year. Further initiatives are planned in various parts of the world in 1993-1994.

At its 2-3 June meeting, the Council of OECD Ministers reaffirmed "the importance of co-operative global action to combat money laundering". They also welcomed "the substantial progress made by members of the Financial Action Task Force in implementing effective counter-measures in their countries and look forward to the greater application of these measures in the non-bank financial sector".

FATF Annual Report 1992-1993