The Financial Action Task Force
FINMA is represented in the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering by a delegation led by the State Secretariat for International Finance. It can therefore participate in the organisation's working groups and influence the development and interpretation of international standards for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These standards are decisive for legislation.
- Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF)
- FATF Members and Observers
- Mutual Evaluation Report of Switzerland 2016
- Follow-up report to the mutual evaluation of Switzerland 2009
- Third mutual evaluation report on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism - Summary - Switzerland 2005
The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) is an international, intergovernmental organisation. It was established by the G8 and comprises 39 members, of which 37 are member jurisdictions and two are regional organisations (EU Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council). The FATF Secretariat is located in Paris, at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
International assessors regularly check and assess whether FATF recommendations have been transposed into national law. Swiss law and regulations on combating money laundering and terrorist financing largely comply with the FATF recommendations.
What the FATF does
The FATF's main objective is to set international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. It also ensures that standards have been implemented effectively via legal, regulatory and operational measures as part of mutual country evaluations. Moreover, the FATF draws up guidelines on implementing standards, compiles best practice documents and issues typology reports on money laundering.Recommendations on combating money laundering
The FATF has published 40 recommendations on combating money laundering and terrorist financing. These recommendations were first issued in 1990 and revised in 1996, 2001, 2003 and 2012. Although the recommendations are not legally binding (soft law), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the UN Security Council (UNSC) have officially recognised them as international standards, and more than 180 countries across the globe have undertaken to comply with them.International assessors regularly check and assess whether FATF recommendations have been transposed into national law. Swiss law and regulations on combating money laundering and terrorist financing largely comply with the FATF recommendations.
