After years of powerful resistance, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) members are now finally open to suggestions on ways to revise the global standard on beneficial ownership transparency.
The FATF as the global standard-setter on anti-money laundering is the only international body with the authority to require countries to take action. It can mandate countries put in place the measures to make financial crime investigations more efficient and effective, and sanction countries that fail to comply.
Transparency International provided a submission with related NGOs and many chapters including TINZ as signatories. TINZ Director Adam Hunt contributed. Additionally TI Australia also offered their own independent submission.
Transparency International is calling on five key fixes for ensuring that the new global standard on beneficial ownership transparency is effective:
- Make beneficial ownership registers a requirement
- Clearly define “beneficial ownership”
- Require independent verification of beneficial ownership data
- Close loopholes that allow anonymity: Bearer shares and nominees
- Increase ownership transparency of foreign companies
A report from the FATF is expected in September or October.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) can be seen as the international standard-setter in the fight against terrorist financing and money laundering. It was established in 1989, by a Group of Seven (G-7) Summit held in Paris. The United Nations strongly urges all Member States to implement the comprehensive, international standards embodied in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Forty Recommendations on Money Laundering and the FATF Nine Recommendations on Terrorist Financing.
