FATF adopts new proliferation financing standards, addresses Covid-19 cybercrime

Federal Issues Covid-19 FATF Financial Crimes Department of Treasury

On October 23, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded its plenary meeting, in which it adopted new standards on proliferation financing. Specifically, FATF adopted amendments to Recommendation 1 and its Interpretive Note that require countries and the private sector to assess and mitigate risks related to “the potential breach, non-implementation or evasion of United Nations (UN) targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation financing.” Treasury notes that the enhanced standards will arm financial institutions and other covered entities with targeted information that can be used to detect shell companies and other entities acting on behalf of designated persons.”

Additionally, FATF noted it will continue its work to identify and assess how cybercriminals are exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic, including the increase in counterfeiting and fraud related to stimulus measures. Lastly, among other things, Treasury notes that FATF adopted a new report on Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML), which has yet to be published, but reportedly “aims to assist both the public and private sectors to better identify and disrupt TBML activity using a risk-based approach.”