Intensified Fund Involvement In Anti Money Laundering Work And Combating The Financing Of Terrorism

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This second edition of the Reference Guide is a comprehensive source of practical information on how countries can fight money laundering and terrorist financing. Aimed at helping countries understand the new international standards, it discusses the problems caused by these crimes, the specific actions countries need to take to address them, and the role international organizations play in the process. The Reference Guide is a valuable tool for establishing effective regimes to successfully prevent, detect, and prosecute money laundering and terrorist financing.

This report evaluates the observance of standards and codes on Financial Action Task Force recommendations for anti–money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) in Canada. The findings reveal that the Canadian authorities have a good understanding of most of Canada’s money laundering and terrorism financing risks. AML/CFT cooperation and coordination are generally good at the policy and operational levels. All high-risk areas are covered by AML/CFT measures, except legal counsel, legal firms, and Quebec notaries. This constitutes a significant loophole in Canada’s AML/CFT framework. Law enforcement results are not commensurate with the money-laundering risk, and asset recovery is low.

The staff report provides an overview of the Fund's AML/CFT program, since the last review conducted in 2014 and seeks the endorsement of the Executive Board to continue on the basis of the directions given in 2014, with one minor adjustment proposed in relation to Fund-led AML/CFT assessments.

This paper provides a summary of the IMF and the World Bank work programs on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism following the Fund and Bank Boards' decisions in March 2004 to endorse the revised FATF standard (2003 version) and methodology for the purposes of preparing ROSCs and to expand the areas of Bank/Fund responsibility to cover the revised FATF standard comprehensively. It draws lessons on what has worked well and the challenges and discusses the work program going forward.

This paper responds to a request from Executive Directors to review the quality and consistency of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) assessment reports prepared by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and FATF style regional bodies (FSRBs), and the effectiveness of coordination with FATF/FSRBs. The review found a high degree of variability in the quality and consistency of reports prepared by the different assessor bodies as well as within the same assessor group. While a large majority of reports were of high- or medium quality with respect to key components of the assessments, the treatment of ratings gave rise to greater problems. A number of initiatives have been taken or are underway to improve the quality and consistency of assessments by all assessor bodies, including: the standardization of documentation, the strengthening of peer/internal reviews, and the intensification of assessor training.

The first part presents the findings concerning overall compliance with the revised standard and methodology and the second part compares these findings to those of assessments under the old methodology. The third part discusses interpretative and application issues and the fourth describes logistical issues based on the experience of the assessments carried out to date.

The Fund’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) program has significantly contributed to the international community’s response to money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This paper reviews how the Fund’s AML/CFT program has evolved during the past five years and discusses how the Fund could move forward in this area. The past five years have witnessed significant changes to the Fund’s AML/CFT technical assistance program. It is now being delivered more strategically than in the past and is almost exclusively funded by external resources. Its central pillar is now the AML/CFT Topical Trust Fund.