Missions of the FATF

The FATF’s most critical document is its 40 Recommendations, globally recognised as the international standard for AML/CFT. These recommendations provide a comprehensive framework enabling countries to:

• Identify risks by assessing the money laundering and terrorist financing threats they face (with a risk-based approach at its core);
• Enact laws to criminalise money laundering and terrorist financing;
• Implement preventive measures, requiring financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions (such as real estate agents, lawyers, and casinos) to conduct Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and report suspicious transactions;
• Promote transparency, particularly regarding legal persons and arrangements, by mandating disclosure of beneficial ownership information;
• Strengthen cooperation through enhanced international collaboration between law enforcement and financial intelligence units.

Given the diversity of legal, administrative, operational, and financial systems across jurisdictions, countries must adapt the implementation of these recommendations to their specific contexts.

The 40 Recommendations are structured into seven distinct areas:

1. AML/CFT Policies and Coordination
2. Money Laundering and Confiscation
3. Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing
4. Preventive Measures
5. Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons and Arrangements
6. Powers and Responsibilities of Competent Authorities and Other Institutional Measures
7. International Cooperation

The FATF Standards comprise the recommendations themselves, their interpretive notes, and the applicable definitions in the glossary. The 40 Recommendations were initially adopted on 16 February 2012 and have been regularly updated since.

The FATF regularly publishes reports to raise awareness of the latest methods used in money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. These reports enable countries to implement the necessary measures to mitigate such risks.

A non-exhaustive list of these reports is available on this website. For the full catalogue, please visit the FATF’s official site.

The FATF assesses countries to ensure they fully and effectively implement the FATF Standards. To date, over 200 countries and jurisdictions have committed to adopting these standards. Evaluations are conducted with the support of the FATF’s nine regional-style bodies and other global partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, following a defined methodology.

The FATF’s methodology for evaluating technical compliance with its recommendations and the effectiveness of AML/CFT/CFP systems (hereinafter referred to as the "FATF Methodology") establishes a two-pronged assessment process:

• Effectiveness: each country must demonstrate that, within the context of its specific risks, it maintains an effective framework to safeguard the financial system from abuse. The assessment focuses on key risks and the economic and structural context of the country. Evaluators prioritise high-risk areas and examine 11 immediate outcomes to determine a country’s level of effectiveness.
• Technical Compliance: each evaluation also determines whether a country has enacted the necessary laws, regulations, and legal instruments in line with the technical requirements of the 40 Recommendations. This legal, regulatory, and operational framework forms the foundation of an effective AML/CFT system, encompassing both prevention and the prosecution of criminal activity.

The FATF updated its assessment methodology in 2022 and commenced its fifth round of evaluations under this new framework in 2024.