Financial Crime

Issue FR1196 / 2 March 2023

Financial Action Task Force

FATF Plenary meeting - FATF publishes outcome - 24 February 2023

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published the outcomes of its plenary meeting, which took place on 22-24 February 2023. Among other things, a guidance document to help countries implement the revised requirements of Recommendation 24 on beneficial ownership of legal persons was finalised. The requirements include assessing and mitigating the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with foreign companies to which their countries are exposed. The guidance will be published in March 2023.   

Delegates have taken steps to enhance the transparency of beneficial ownership and prevent criminals from hiding illicit activity behind opaque corporate structures by agreeing revisions to Recommendation 25 on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal arrangements. 

In addition, the FATF agreed a roadmap to strengthen implementation of standards on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and approved a report on the disruption of financial flows relating to ransomware, due to be published in March 2023.   

Outcomes FATF Plenary: 22-24 February 2023

Official Journal of the European Union

AML/CTF - Delegated Regulation amending list of high-risk third countries under MLD4 published in OJ - 24 February 2023

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/410, which amends Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 on the list of high-risk third countries with strategic anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) deficiencies under the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (EU) 2015/849) (MLD4), has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Delegated Regulation will amend the Annex of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 by:

  • adding third countries that have strategic AML/CTF deficiencies, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gibraltar, Mozambique, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates; and
  • removing third countries that no longer present strategic AML/CTF deficiencies, including Nicaragua, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

The Delegation Regulation will enter into force on 16 March 2023.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/410 of 19 December 2023 on amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 as regards adding the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gibraltar, Mozambique, Tanzania and the UAE to Table 1 of the Annex to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 and deleting Nicaragua, Pakistan and Zimbabwe from that table