Joint G20 ACWG-FATF Experts Meeting on Corruption

October 16 2016

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) held a joint Experts Meeting on Corruption in Paris, France, on 16 October 2016. The meeting was chaired jointly by the FATF President, Mr. Juan Manuel Vega-Serrano (Spain) and the G20 ACWG Co-Chair, Mr. Creon Butler (United Kingdom). This is the sixth time that the FATF and G20 ACWG have held such an event, which brings together anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) experts and anti-corruption experts to discuss issues of common interest. Participants in this dialogue included 104 delegates from 36 jurisdictions and 16 international organisations. The focus of this meeting was on transparency and beneficial ownership given the topic’s priority in both the FATF and G20 agendas and its particular interest to the international community overall.

The misuse of legal persons and arrangements which was highlighted earlier this year focused attention on the need to improve implementation of controls against the misuse of corporate structures. Some countries have already put in place adequate legal frameworks to collect and maintain beneficial ownership information as part of their AML/CFT customer due diligence processes. However, effective implementation of these measures presents significant shortcomings and remains a challenge. Work also still needs to be undertaken in most jurisdictions to ensure that such information is available for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting corruption offences.