Outcomes FATF Plenary, 21-23 February 2024

The fifth Plenary of the FATF under the Presidency of T. Raja Kumar of Singapore concluded on 23 Feb 2024. Delegates from the FATF’s Global Network of over 200 jurisdictions and observers from international organisations participated in three days of discussions on key money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing issues at the FATF headquarters in Paris.

Among the key outcomes of the Plenary is a new risk-based guidance for the implementation of Recommendation 25 on the beneficial ownership and transparency of legal arrangements. This completes the FATF’s body of work to enhance transparency of beneficial ownership globally and prevent criminals and terrorists from hiding their activities and funds behind complex corporate structures and legal arrangements such as trusts. The FATF will continue its outreach to ensure effective implementation of the revised Standards.
The Plenary also agreed to release for public consultation, a range of options for potential changes to Recommendation 16 and its Interpretive Note on wire transfers. The proposed revisions seek to adapt FATF Standards to the changes in payment systems’ business models and messaging standards and ensure that they remain technology-neutral. In preparation for the next round of mutual evaluations, the Plenary finalised modifications to its assessment methodology to reflect the recent revisions to the FATF Standards to protect non-profit organisations from potential abuse for terrorist financing.

The FATF identified jurisdictions with materially important virtual asset activity, to support them in implementing the FATF’s requirements to supervise and regulate this activity.
The FATF updated the statements identifying high-risk and other monitored jurisdictions and removed four countries from its increased monitoring list following successful on-site visits. These countries include Barbados, Gibraltar, Uganda, and United Arab Emirates.

Source

https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Fatfgeneral/outcomes-fatf-plenary-february-2024.html