FAFT restricts Russia’s membership, takes action on corruption and drug trafficking

Financial Crimes Of Interest to Non-US Persons Department of Treasury Russia Singapore Anti-Money Laundering FATF Beneficial Ownership

On October 20, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded its first plenary of the Singaporean presidency, in which it, among other things, took steps to combat corruption and illegal fentanyl trafficking and enhance financial transparency. During the meeting, FATF agreed to seek public input on draft guidance for implementing the FATF standard on beneficial ownership transparency for legal persons. The efforts to improve transparency in beneficial ownership “seek to improve the ability of law enforcement to trace, report, and seize illicit proceeds, and to make it harder for criminals and others to exploit opaque legal structures such as shell companies to hide and launder the proceeds of their crimes.” FATF also adopted a U.S.-led report on money laundering related to the illicit trafficking of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, which provides information and best practices so that law enforcement and financial investigators around the world can expand their work on complex, cross-border money laundering investigations involving the proceeds of drug trafficking. The FATF also agreed to additional restrictions on the membership rights of the Russian Federation due to its war against Ukraine, including by barring them from participating in current and future FATF project teams.