Multi-Lateral Organizations and Programs
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), created in 1989, is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The FATF currently has 36 members, comprising 34 member countries and territories and two regional organizations, as follows: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, The Kingdom of the Netherlands (includes the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and Saint Maarten), New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United States, the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
There are also a number of FATF-style regional bodies that, in conjunction with the FATF, constitute an affiliated global network to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG)
The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) was officially established in February 1997. The 41 APG members are as follows: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga, United States, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. Bhutan joined the APG in July 2011.
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF)
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) was established in 1992. CFATF has 29 members: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nicaragua, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, and Venezuela.
The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL)
The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) was established in 1997 under the acronym PC-R-EV. MONEYVAL is comprised of 28 permanent members; two temporary, rotating FATF members; and two active observers. The permanent members are Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The active observers are the Holy See and Israel. Temporary members, designated by the FATF for a two-year membership, are currently Austria and France. The Holy See became an active observer to MONEYVAL in April 2011.
The Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG)
The Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) was established in 1999. Fifteen countries comprise its membership: Botswana, Comoros, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Comoros joined ESAAMLG in 2011.
The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG)
The Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) was established in 2004, and has nine members: Belarus, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering in South America (GAFISUD)
The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering in South America (GAFISUD) was formally established in 2000. The 12 GAFISUD members are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)
The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) was formally established in 1999. GIABA consists of 15 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
The Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF)
The Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) was formally established in 2004. MENAFATF has 18 members: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The Organization of American States Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (OAS/CICAD) Group of Experts to Control Money Laundering
The Organization of American States, through the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD/OAS) under the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security, is responsible for addressing illicit drug trafficking and related crimes, including money laundering. CICAD’s training programs seek to improve and enhance the knowledge and capabilities of judges, prosecutors, public defenders, law enforcement agents, and financial intelligence unit (FIU) analysts to detect, investigate and prosecute these crimes. In 2011, CICAD continued its activities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The U.S. Department of State, through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), provided full or partial funding for many CICAD training activities.
The Expert Group on the Control of Money Laundering (the Expert Group), comprised of legal and law enforcement specialists appointed by member states, met twice in 2011. It has two working groups; the first, coordinated by Costa Rica, deals with the seizure, forfeiture, and management of assets. The second, coordinated by Chile, deals with the coordination and integration of law enforcement agencies and FIUs. In accordance with the 2010–2011 work plan, the first working group set two priority topics: developing internal guidelines for requesting mutual legal assistance, and asset location, identification and recovery; and preparing a study on the latest legislative and administrative developments on seizure and forfeiture systems in the Americas. The second working group focused on: compiling open-access information sources for preliminary financial identification of suspected money launderers; and developing a strategic planning process for the Expert Group.
Seized and Forfeited Assets
Building on a two-year pilot phase in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, CICAD’s Seized and Forfeited Assets Management Program of Latin America (BIDAL, from the Spanish acronym) project shifted to a different regional focus, working with the governments of the Dominican Republic and El Salvador to implement asset recovery management programs by harmonizing and strengthening procedures for the administration of seized and forfeited assets. In August, the first national workshop took place in El Salvador.
The BIDAL project also developed reference documents, including “Best Practices Manual on the Management of Seized and Forfeited Assets” and “Asset Management Systems in Latin America,” addressing the evolution of the legal concept of confiscation and asset recovery agencies in Europe, and the study of comparative law of property management systems in America. Additionally, working with the Expert Group, the BIDAL project team sponsored an amendment to Article 9 of the CICAD/OAS Model Regulations Concerning Laundering Offenses Connected to Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offenses, with regard to the confiscation of abandoned or unclaimed property. These documents were collected in a publication that was distributed to member states.
CICAD’s Anti-Money Laundering Section developed and implemented coursework on the maintenance, protection and disposition of seized and forfeited assets, which aims to improve the knowledge and technical capabilities of officials who conduct financial and capital investigations and take part in forfeiture proceedings, and management and allocation of assets of illicit origin. In the second half of 2011, CICAD held the first workshops in Argentina and Panama.
The Anti-Money Laundering Section organized 13 seminars and workshops in 12 countries in 2011, training 456 judges, prosecutors, public solicitors, law enforcement officers, FIU analysts and forfeited asset administration officers, among other participants. It collaborated with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering in South America (GAFISUD), the Ministry of Interior of the Government of Spain and the U.S. Department of State, as well as the OAS’ Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE) and the governments of CICAD member states.
CICAD also coordinated with the UNODC Legal Assistance Program for Latin America and the Caribbean, INTERPOL, and GAFISUD in setting up GAFISUD’s Asset Recovery Network as an instrument for exchanging information about the identification and recovery of assets or products of transnational illicit activities.
Backed by UNODC, the Government of Spain, the Inter-American Development Bank and INL, the Anti-Money Laundering Section continued using its methodology of mock investigations and trials to prepare judges, prosecutors, public solicitors, police investigators and financial analysts to handle complicated money laundering cases. It organized events in Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru in 2011.
Funded by INL, among others, CICAD, CICTE and UNODC organized three regional counter-terrorism financing workshops for legislators, prosecutors, police and financial analysts in Costa Rica (participants from six countries), Colombia (five countries) and Uruguay (nine countries). CICAD, CICTE and the United Nations conducted a legislative assistance mission to the Commonwealth of Dominica, which organized a one-day training workshop on combating the financing of terrorism and technical assistance to the Government of Dominica.
Throughout 2011, CICAD and the INL Narcotics Affairs Section in Lima continued a program to strengthen the main law enforcement agencies and courts that deal with money laundering in Peru (judges, prosecutors, public solicitors, law enforcement officers, banking regulators and FIU analysts, among others). The program concentrated on developing an integrated curriculum for multiple agencies and reaching personnel posted outside the capital of Lima. The training focused on mastering the latest techniques and tools for investigating and prosecuting cases (in particular, special investigative techniques, incriminating evidence, and financial links and relationships analysis).
United Nations Global Programme against Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime, and the Financing of Terrorism (GPML)
The United Nations Global Programme against Money Laundering, Proceeds of Crime and the Financing of Terrorism (GPML), part of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was established to assist member states to comply with the UN Conventions and other instruments that deal with money laundering and terrorist financing. Since 2001, GPML’s technical assistance work on counter-terrorist financing (CFT) has also been a priority. GPML now incorporates a focus on CFT in all its technical assistance work. In 2011, GPML provided long-term assistance in the development of viable anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) programs to 30 countries. GPML also delivered 39 training events worldwide and two international conferences, in partnership with other agencies and organizations where possible. GPML trained 1,362 representatives of law enforcement agencies, financial intelligence units (FIUs), judicial authorities and reporting entities.
The Mentoring Program
GPML’s mentoring program is one of the most successful and well-known activities of international AML/CFT technical assistance and training. By giving in-depth support upon request, the mentors have gained the confidence of the recipient institutions. In many countries, GPML mentors are the only locally placed AML/CFT experts, hence they are heavily relied upon by local offices of donor countries and organizations for advice in the creation and delivery of other donor AML/CFT projects. During 2011, GPML employed four mentors, two of which are shared with the World Bank. GPML mentors stationed in Central Asia, Hanoi, Namibia, and West Africa worked extensively on the development and implementation of a wide variety of AML/CFT programs and procedures in individual countries and surrounding regions.
Illicit Financial Flows: The tracking of illicit financial flows linked to piracy was a high priority for 2011, with the focus on Somalia and the Horn of Africa. GPML organized an international conference in Nairobi, Kenya to increase regional and international cooperation on combating financial flows from piracy. A second conference in Djibouti focused on improving cooperation between law enforcement agencies and alternative money remitters, i.e., hawala and mobile financial services providers.
Asset Recovery: UNODC and the World Bank lead the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative aimed at assisting developing countries to recover stolen assets that have been sent abroad by corrupt leaders. GPML also continued its partnership with the StAR initiative and Europol’s Camden Asset Recovery Inter-agency Network (CARIN), and furthered its assistance to the operational development of other professional asset forfeiture networks, namely the ARINSA in Southern Africa and the Red de la Recuperation de Activos de GAFISUD (RRAG) in South America.
Other GPML Tools and Services
Financial Intelligence Unit Analyst Course: The course focuses on analysis of suspicious transactions related to possible money laundering and terrorist financing; and addresses relationships between the FIU and agencies responsible for investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing. In 2011, the training was delivered in Rwanda, Ethiopia, and the Maghreb region for Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.
Financial Investigation Course: This course has a practical focus and is designed upon legal and procedural processes in the country of training. It gives participants the opportunity to learn the legislative aspects of financial crime, understand their powers, conduct searches and undertake interviews. The training was delivered in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Rwanda in 2011.
Countering Cash Couriers: GPML’s cash courier training provides an opportunity for border control, police and FIU staff to develop their knowledge and skills in the mechanisms for monitoring cross-border transportation of cash and bearer negotiable instruments as well as the identification and interdiction of cash couriers. The course was developed and piloted in 2011, jointly by GPML and the World Customs Organization, in Indonesia and the Philippines. In addition, GPML assists national border control agencies in the development of an operations manual to serve as a resource guide for border control officers.
Development of AML/CFT Experts/Trainers: This program, which can be customized for national law enforcement training institutions, involves the design and development of AML/CFT training modules and the development of national AML/CFT subject matter experts through a series of train–the-trainer and technical workshops. In 2011 GPML conducted workshops in Bangladesh and Morocco.
Prosecutor Placement Program: This is a sustainable capacity building program designed to give newly-appointed confiscation prosecutors a practical understanding of asset seizure and forfeiture practices by placing them in the office of an experienced and capable confiscation legal team. The Program operates in Southern Africa in conjunction with the South African National Prosecution Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit.
AML/CFT Advisory Services and Model Legislation: GPML has developed a model law for civil law legal systems in collaboration with UNODC's Legal Advisory Program and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and for common law legal systems, jointly with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the IMF, to assist countries in setting up their AML/CFT legislation. GPML provides legal advisory services to member states requesting assistance in modifying their domestic legislation.
Training Leveraging AML systems to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants: The training for police, FIU staff, prosecutors, and specialists in investigation and victim counseling covers various aspects of financial investigation which can be used to identify and investigate organized crime groups involved in human trafficking and migrant smuggling. This training was piloted in Yemen.
Computer Based Training: GPML has produced and disseminated 13 computer-based training modules on AML-related topics aimed at law enforcement personnel and other key officials involved in combating money laundering. These particular modules provide an overview of AML issues and a basic understanding of the methods and practical measures required to address them. Since 2003 over 50,000 people have been trained in 20 countries.
Information Technology Solutions for AML/CFT
goAML: The program is an analytical and integrated database and intelligence analysis system for operational deployment in FIUs to assist them in managing their activities, particularly data collection, analysis, and dissemination. Version one of goAML has been installed in a range of countries, to include Namibia, Kosovo, Palestine, Nigeria, Tanzania, Bermuda, Denmark, Netherlands, Morocco and South Africa.
IMoLIN/AMLID: GPML has developed and continues to maintain the International Money laundering Information Network (http://www.imolin.org) on behalf of a partnership of eleven international organizations. IMoLIN provides a wide range of tools and key AML/CFT-related information for professionals, including the Anti-Money laundering International Database (AMLID), a compendium and analysis of AML/CFT legislation and regulations.
The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units
The Egmont Group began in 1995 as a small group of national entities—today referred to as financial intelligence units (FIUs)—seeking to explore ways to cooperate internationally among themselves. The goal of the Egmont Group is to provide a forum for FIUs around the world to improve support to their respective governments in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. This support includes expanding and systematizing the exchange of financial intelligence, improving expertise and capabilities of personnel employed by such organizations, and fostering better and more secure communication among FIUs through the application of technology.
To meet the standards of Egmont membership, an FIU must be a centralized unit within a nation or jurisdiction established to detect criminal financial activity and ensure adherence to laws against financial crimes, including terrorist financing and money laundering. Today the FIU concept is an important component of the international community’s approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The Egmont Group has grown dramatically from 14 units in 1995 to a recognized membership of 127 FIUs in 2011. The FIUs of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mali, Morocco, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Uzbekistan joined the Egmont Group during the most recent annual plenary, held in July 2011.
The Egmont Group is organizationally structured to meet the challenges of the large membership and its workload. The Egmont Committee is an intermediary group between the 127 heads of member FIUs and the Egmont working groups. This Committee addresses the administrative and operational issues facing the Egmont Group. In addition to the Committee, there are five working groups: legal, operational, training, information technology, and outreach. The Egmont Group’s secure Internet system permits members to communicate with one another via secure e-mail, requesting and sharing case information as well as posting and assessing information on typologies, analytical tools and technological developments.
As of 2011, the 127 members of the Egmont Group are the FIUs of Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guernsey, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turks and Caicos, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Venezuela.