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12 April 2008

Chairman's Press Statement post FATF Ministerial 12 April 2008, Washington DC

I chaired a meeting of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Ministers in Washington today, the first since 2004. Ministers and representatives of 34 FATF countries and international organisations discussed the continuing global challenges from crime and terrorism to the international financial system and the action needed by the international community to respond.

Our discussions were productive and I want to set out briefly our conclusions.

We are all facing a persistent terrorist and criminal threat, unprecedented in its scale and international in its reach. Finance is the lifeblood of these threats. We agreed that the FATF was at the centre of the international efforts to combat financial crime by denying criminals and terrorists access to the financial system, and paid tribute to the FATF's excellent work to date.

We agreed to remain vigilant and committed to protecting the international system from the threats arising from crime, terrorism and all other forms of illicit financing. To this end, we agreed to step up our collective efforts and endorsed today a revised FATF mandate which equips the Task Force to be more responsive, strategic and outward-looking in its efforts to protect the international financial system from abuse.

This new mandate:

  • Deepens global surveillance through regular FATF reporting of emerging and fast evolving criminal and terrorist threats identified by the FATF;
  • Responds to new threats to our security and the integrity of the financial system such as proliferation finance;
  • Supports global efforts to raise standards, especially among Low Capacity Countries;
  • Builds a stronger partnership with the private sector who are at the frontline of the global fight against money launderers and terrorist financiers.

We welcomed the new steps taken last February to protect the financial system from abuse. We remain very concerned about the risks posed from weapons of mass destruction proliferation finance, particularly from Iran.

Finally, we stressed the importance of working closely with international partners, including the eight FATF style regional bodies and the international financial institutions, to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing around the world.

Note to editors:

  1. The FATF is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
  2. The thirty-four members of the FATF are: Argentina; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Brazil; Canada; China; Denmark; the European Commission; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; the Gulf Co-operation Council; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Luxembourg; Mexico; the Kingdom of the Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Portugal; the Russian Federation; Singapore; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; the United Kingdom; and the United States.
  3. India and the Republic of Korea are observer countries.
  4. The Asia Pacific Group on money laundering (APG) , the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) , the Grupo de Acción Financiera de Sudamérica (GAFISUD) , the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) and the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (MONEYVAL) are Associate Members.
  5. The global network that is committed to combating money laundering and terrorist financing also includes four other regional bodies: the Eastern and South African Anti Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) , the Eurasian Group on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism (EAG) and the Groupe Inter-gouvernemental d'Action contre le Blanchiment en Afrique (GIABA) . The Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors (OGBS) is a part of this network as well.
  6. The FATF revised mandate can be found at: www.fatf-gafi.org
  7. Media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Press Office on 020 7270 4457, or to Rick McDonell, Executive Secretary, FATF Secretariat, on +33 1 45 24 16 08.

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