Financial Action Task Force

The GIFCS is represented at meetings of the FATF as an observer organization. All members of the Group have endorsed their commitment to the FATF Recommendations.

The Group participated in the review by the FATF of its Recommendations which was completed in February 2012. The group was also a member of the working group set up by the FATF to revise the methodology relating to the revised Recommendations. Currently it is involved with the FATF working group on beneficial ownership.

The Group participated in the work of the FATF on extending the risk based approach to AML/CFT to designated non-financial businesses and professions, contributing in particular to the approach for trust and company service providers on which it has subsequently issued its own standard.

The Group has co-led an FATF typologies project on the money laundering risks arising from trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants.

The Group is committed to the regular assessment/evaluation of members for AML/CFT. Within the Group member jurisdictions there are a number of persons who have been trained as assessors for mutual evaluations. While the Group has undertaken its own AML/CFT assessments, it is more usual for members’ compliance with the FATF Recommendations to be assessed by an FSRB of which they are also a member, or through a joint GIFCS/FSRB assessment where there is common membership. 

In the past AML/CFT compliance has also been reviewed by the IMF as part of the IMF FSAP programme.   The FSAP programme includes assessment of compliance with the international standards set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).

Assessors from the Group have been called upon by the IMF and the FSRBs to assist in evaluation missions, particularly where international activities are significant and where the Group's assessors have relevant experience/expertise. This is particularly so in respect of designated non-financial businesses and professions and trust and company service providers.

Group members are committed to publishing their AML/CFT assessment reports in full. These reports also appear on the websites of the IMF, the FATF, or the relevant FSRB.