FATF Plenary week from 16 – 21 October 2016

The FATF Plenary week which includes the first Plenary meeting under the Spanish  of Juan Manuel Vega-Serrano on 19-21 October, will take place at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France.  Throughout the week’s meetings, delegates from the more than 190 members of the FATF and the FATF-Style Regional Bodies plus the UN, IMF World Bank and other partners, will work through a full agenda that includes:

• Global response to terrorist financing.  Delegates will discuss progress in implementing the consolidated strategy since the June 2016 Plenary meeting. The Plenary will discuss interpretive note to Recommendation 5 on the terrorist financing offence and a guidance to assist countries to fully and effectively criminalise terrorist financing.   The FATF is expected to approve a joint FATF-GABAC-GIABA report on Terrorist Financing in West and Central Africa.
• De-risking - decline of correspondent banking relationships. The practice of de-risking, which could lead to financial exclusion and higher money laundering and terrorist financing risks has been a concern for the FATF for some time.  Delegates will discuss cooperation with other relevant organisations such as the FSB, CPMI, World Bank and IMF, to understand the complex drivers for de-risking  and to ensure that an incorrect application of AML/CFT measures does not contribute to this practice.  The Plenary is expected to approve a guidance which explains the risk-based approach for correspondent banking services.
• Transparency and beneficial ownership.  Delegates will discuss FATF’s proposals to G20 to improve countries’ effective implementation of FATF standards to improve access to beneficial ownership information. The FATF will also discuss other options for future work on transparency and beneficial ownership and to prevent the abuse of companies and trusts for illicit purposes.
• The outcomes of the mutual evaluation reports of Switzerland and the United States. These reports assess each country’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and make recommendations to further strengthen these measures. Subject to the discussions at this meeting, these reports are expected to be published within two months of the plenary meeting.

The FATF sets standards and promotes effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation.

For further questions, journalists should contact the FATF Secretariat at contact@fatf-gafi.org.