SINGAPORE – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its report on May 6, with various jurisdictions assessed across 40 technical compliance aspects and 11 key areas, known as immediate outcomes.
Members are placed on regular follow-up if they do well, enhanced follow-up if some major improvements are required, or subject to further review if there are significant deficiencies in their systems.
Singapore was placed on regular follow-up.
The global financial watchdog noted in its report that the Republic has been tough on financial crime, but could improve in some areas, such as measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.
In a joint statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) noted that the assessment for the period between 2020 and 2025 is an improvement from Singapore’s fourth-round results in 2016.
A: FATF is the global financial crime watchdog formed in 1989 by the Group of Seven, an informal bloc of the seven most-industrialised nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.
The European Union is also represented.
The independent inter-governmental body FATF is based in Paris and consists of 40 members, including Singapore which joined in 1992.
It is tasked to set international standards to protect the global financial system and tackle financial crime in areas such as money laundering, terrorist financing and financing weapons of mass destruction.
FATF’s recommendations are recognised as the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standard, with more than 200 countries and jurisdictions having committed to implement them.
Its members are periodically assessed through rounds of mutual evaluations to determine the degree of technical compliance and effectiveness of their systems.
Each round is roughly a period of 10 years. Singapore is among the first few countries to undergo the most recent fifth round.
A key aspect of the assessment looks at a jurisdiction’s effectiveness in 11 areas, known as immediate outcomes. These can be rated as either high, substantial, moderate or low.
It also looks at compliance with 40 technical requirements, with ratings ranging from compliant, largely compliant, partially compliant and non-compliant.
Based on the ratings in these two aspects, members can be placed on regular follow-up if they do well, enhanced follow-up if some major improvements are required, or subject to further review if there are significant deficiencies in their systems.
A: Jurisdictions that are subject to further review may be placed on FATF’s grey or black lists.
