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OBJECTIVES FOR 2022-2024

With Singapore holding Presidency of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) from 2022 – 2024, the Presidency aims on improving the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) initiatives throughout all member nations as well as the broader Global Network. The goal is to strengthen international efforts to boost asset recovery and investigate modern ML/TF issues that are associated with cyber-enabled transnational crimes such as online scams and phishing.

Apart from working alongside FATF members and the FATF Secretariat, the Singapore Presidency will further set out the groundwork and prepare for the upcoming, 5th round of mutual evaluations, which will be more regular, targeted, and scrutinised, with a heightened emphasis on key risks and efficacy. This is in conjunction with the FATF’s main responsibilities of discovering and analysing money laundering and terrorism funding methods and trends, producing and revising the FATF Standards, and reviewing and supporting country assessments within the Global Network.

STRENGTHENING ASSET RECOVERY

In recent years, the rate the of global financial crime has increased in not only scale, but complexity and pervasiveness across jurisdictions. However, since less than 1% of all global proceeds of financial crime is ‘intercepted’ and recovered, the Singapore Presidency aims to fixate on assisting countries with their rate of asset recovery. To do so, part of this will include enhancing collaboration between the FATF, FSRBs and Asset Recovery Networks. The FATF will assess the condition of asset recovery networks and lay out a plan for members to build more robust and comprehensive systems. It will additionally serve as a catalyst for substantial changes to national goals, the establishment of cooperative frameworks, and the application of best practises for recovering assets from cyber-enabled crimes, particularly to combat fraud, scams, and ransomware. By working together with the Global Network and other strategic partners including the UN, IMF, and INTERPOL, the level of collaboration with each will increase and the focus on actionable changes is more likely to be successful.

COUNTERING ILLICIT FINANCE OF CYBER-ENABLED CRIME

Since 2020, online fraud, frauds, ransomware, and COVID-related phishing have dominated the cybercrime environment. Numerous jurisdictions find it difficult to prevent or even contain these illicit operations, which are frequently complex and employ innovative technologies. Under Singapore’s Presidency, the FATF will launch a new effort focusing on ML/TF related to cyber-enabled fraud and scams. The FATF will strive to gain a deeper understanding of the difficulties, analyse the ML techniques in use, identify appropriate tools such as data analytics and industry partnerships, and illuminate best practises to support member learning.

INCREASING EFFECTIVENESS OF GLOBAL AML MEASURES

Enhancing the efficacy of AML/CFT measures is a fundamental objective of Singapore’s Presidency. The FATF will continue and complete its work plans in a timely way, including continuous efforts to evaluate and ensure that the FATF Standards stay relevant and up to date, as well as laying the framework and preparing for the fifth round of mutual evaluations. This consists of:

  • Assessing new ML/TF risks and implementing best practises and mitigation measures in regard to virtual assets and their service providers and ensuring that governments adopt FATF recommendations in this area in a timely and effective manner.
  • Supervising the completion of guidelines on beneficial ownership information for legal entities and directing amendment proposals to the FATF recommendation on beneficial ownership information for trusts and other legal arrangements.
  • Promoting the usage of data analytics by competent authorities to achieve positive AML/CFT outcomes by sharing and focusing on relevant case studies.
  • Building on the routine examination of TF risks associated with ISIL, Al Qaeda, and their affiliates, and researching methods to improve intelligence exchange.
  • Increasing awareness of the ML/TF risks associated with grand and systemic corruption, illegal wildlife trading, and environmental criminality.
  • Taking into consideration the results of the FATF Strategic Review in April 2022, updating appropriate training materials and ensuring there is a sufficient community of experts to perform mutual assessments and reviews for new areas of effectiveness assessment.

REINFORCING FATF PARTNERSHIPS WITH FSRBS

With Singapore committing to strengthening the partnership between the FATF and the FSRB, the recent development of the FSRB’s strategic vision during the German presidency is openly welcomed. Under the Singaporean Presidency, the FATF will work closely with FSRBs to design a roadmap for capability and capacity building with the goal of supporting and bolstering the Global Network’s efforts to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation finance.