FATF agrees to annual consultation with non-profit organisations

FATF agrees to annual consultation with non-profit organisations

News (International)

A coalition of international non-profit organisations including The Charity and Security Network (CSN), the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), the European Foundation Centre (EFC), the Human Security Collective (HSC) and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), welcome the announcement of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that it will enhance its engagement with non-profit organisations. The announcement related specifically to work on combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The FATF will now hold annual meetings with non-profit organisations on specific issues of common interest and organise ad hoc exchanges on technical matters.

The FATF, is an inter-governmental body that sets standards and promotes implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. It has far-reaching influence on national governments’ regulation of the non-profit sector.

FATF’s pledge for an annual meeting with the non-profit sector comes following last week’s FATF Plenary meeting in Brisbane, Australia, at which the Plenary also approved for publication a revised version of the Best Practices Paper on its Recommendation on combating the potential abuse of non-profit organisations for terrorist financing purposes. It will aim to prevent cases of over-regulation and misinterpretation of the existing Recommendation by countries, which hinders legitimate activities of NPOs that play a vital role in society.

A wide-reaching coalition of non-profit organisations led by CSN, ECNL, EFC, HSC and ICNL, has advocated for a more formalised dialogue with the non-profit sector and hence welcomes FATF’s new commitment. The coalition will put forward recommendations for a system of consultation and dialogue with clear operational rules, which will be part of the formal process of engagement between FATF and its key stakeholders.

For more information: Catherine Lennon, European Foundation Centre, clennon@efc.be

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