FATF has held its June 2021 plenary session, at which it finalised a number of reports. Key outputs include:
- no changes to the highest risk jurisdictions, but Haiti, Malta, the Philippines and South Sudan have been made subject to increased monitoring and Ghana removed from the need for increased monitoring;
- looking at digital transformation of AML/CFT;
- adoption of the second 12 month review of implementation of virtual assets initiative;
- money laundering from environmental crime;
- a consultation on strengthening standards on beneficial ownership; and
- mitigating the unintended consequences of the standards.
On beneficial ownership, FATF is considering how best to strengthen Recommendation 24, and is consulting on options until 27 August. Among its possible measures are specific requirements around “foreign-created” legal persons, and a multi-pronged approach to ensure beneficial ownership information is available to competent authorities. It also looks at who should play a role in verification of information and how often should information be confirmed or updated.