FATF to review its recommendations to increase transparency
On 3 November 2009, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a speech given by Paul Vlaanderen, FATF President, on 30 October 2009, in which he talked about the need to increase transparency in the area of anti-money laundering (AML). The FATF has been called on by the G20 to give higher priority to transparency.
Mr Vlaanderen said that, in order to meet this objective, the FATF is reviewing its recommendations in the following areas:
Customer due diligence and beneficial ownership. One of the key FATF principles is the obligation for financial institutions to conduct due diligence to identify their customers and underlying beneficial owners. The FATF will revisit its recommendations to consider whether the current standard is still the best way to provide maximum customer transparency.
Transparency of legal persons and legal arrangements. The FATF will review its recommendations to improve this.
Financial institution secrecy laws and cross-border exchange of information. The FATF will assess whether certain laws may inhibit the implementation of the FATF recommendations.
It will also consider potential obstacles to cross-border exchange of information within financial services groups and between regulators.