Brussels, 21/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in plenary in Paris on 12-14 October, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) issued a press release welcoming United Nations Security Council Resolution 1617 (2005), which “strongly urges all Member States to implement the comprehensive, international standards” embodied in the FATF Forty Recommendations on money laundering and the Nine Special Recommendations on terrorist financing.
The FATF removed Nauru from its list of non-cooperative countries and territories (NCCTs) after Nauru abolished its 400 shell banks, thus removing the major money laundering risk. Though Myanmar and Nigeria remain on the list of NCCTs, the FATF recognised that they have adopted many necessary legal reforms and encouraged further implementation.
At this meeting, the FATF reviewed the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems of three countries: Australia, Italy and Switzerland. Preliminary outcomes of the third round of mutual evaluations show that while FATF members are making very serious efforts to implement the new standards, effective implementation will take further effort. In this spirit, the FATF will invite the members of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to participate in a joint session with the FATF at its next Plenary meeting to be held in February 2006 in Cape Town.