Strengthening the global shield against illicit finance
Since the Financial Action Task Force was founded 35 years ago by the G7, our work has become more critical than ever. Our people and economies are plagued by both traditional and emerging threats that destroy lives and undermine peace and security.
More than 8,000 lives were lost to terrorism around the world in 2023, underscoring the need to starve terrorists of their financing. Meanwhile, the synthetic opioid market generates tens of billions of dollars annually, and claims hundreds of thousands of lives. Conservative estimates suggest illicit finance is a $3 trillion business every year, with the most serious crimes – drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, frauds and scams – driven by profit. Because financial crimes cause immense harm, resulting in lives lost, families devastated and ecosystems damaged, we must cut off the money flows that fuel them.
A global safeguard against financial crime
The FATF is part of an ecosystem of international and regional organisations protecting the integrity of the financial system, and contributing to global security and safety by ensuring financial crime does not pay. Since its inception, the FATF has expanded to 40 members and works closely with the nine FATF-Style Regional Bodies. Together, we form the FATF Global Network, with more than 200 jurisdictions. Almost all countries around the world have committed to implement the FATF standards to make the international financial system a defensive shield against criminals.
Our priority is to ensure that both public and private sectors are well equipped with effective tools and mechanisms to deprive criminals of their ill-gotten gains and prevent them from obtaining the funding that feeds their illegal activities.
We identify and monitor risks at national, regional and global levels, which is crucial for both the public and private sectors to stay ahead of the curve. Thanks to our Global Network, we provide a platform for countries, as well as corporations and financial institutions, to deliver a comprehensive picture of current and emerging money laundering risks and trends. One recent FATF report highlighted innovative ways in which financial institutions and payment platforms can use financial intelligence to protect children from online sexual exploitation.
Financial inclusion is key to countering criminality
We also promote a proportionate, risk-based approach centred on effectiveness. Acknowledging each country’s specificities, and in seeking concrete and tangible results, our aim is for each country to develop adequate tools to combat illicit finance. The FATF has clarified its standards on this risk-based approach, empowering the private sector to bring more people into the formal financial sector and support financial inclusion. This ensures that people are not pushed towards cash and informal sectors where criminality can thrive and promotes growth and development.
We encourage strong public-private partnerships within and between countries – key to developing synergies and complementary approaches, managing cost efficiency and improving information sharing. Proportionate, risk-based anti-money laundering measures support financial sector activities, while avoiding losing customers and investments because of a lack of trust in the sector. All of our reports show that engaging with the private sector delivers beneficial short- and long-term outcomes.
Harnessing technology to strengthen financial defences
We support the development of new technologies to help countries and the private sector keep pace with preventing and tackling crime, tracking illegal transactions, sharing intelligence, and reconciling data privacy with information sharing. The 2024 Global Financial Crime Report suggested fraud scams and bank fraud schemes totalled almost $500 billion in losses globally. Our recent report on cyber-enabled fraud shows that anti-fraud and anti-money laundering processes are complementary. This includes working with the private sector for horizon scanning to mitigate emerging fraud trends, while supporting the development of cost-efficient tools forthe private sector. The FATF also supports countries with materially important virtual asset sectors in implementing adequate monitoring frameworks.
We also ensure effective implementation of all these defences, through peer evaluation processes. The goal is to help countries identify their strengths and weaknesses and to support them in effectively implementing proportionate and risk-based measures, developing adequate tools to combat illicit finance. We are only as strong as our weakest link, which is why we have launched a project to assist low-capacity countries in addressing the challenges they face implementing Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Terrorism Financing Standards.
With growth slowing and families struggling to make ends meet, it is an appalling injustice when money ends up in the hands of criminals – money that could be spent on much-needed global growth and development, educating children and supporting better health outcomes. For this reason, in addition to promoting a safer, more secure world, tackling financial crime contributes to the core mission of the G7, benefiting everyone.
As founders of the FATF, G7 members must lead by example – but the entire world needs to play its part. These crimes do not respect borders, so it is in all of our interests to strengthen our efforts. The G7 established the FATF to keep dirty money out of the financial system; three decades later we are bringing the whole world with us in this fight.
