Recording: Charting Authoritarian Abuses of the FATF Standards Paper Launch

Laws and powers underpinned by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are being systematically misused by governments worldwide to freeze opponents’ bank accounts, gather sensitive banking information on non-profits and keep activists in lengthy pre-trial detention on trumped up charges of money laundering or terrorism financing.

The most common targets are watchdog organisations, journalists, opposition activists and even independent businesses unwilling to bend to the will of authorities.

The FATF is the global standard-setter for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). Its standards ensure a coordinated global response to organised crime, corruption and the threats posed by terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Yet, RUSI research shows how the standards are used to provide a veneer of legitimacy to the suppression of dissidents.

In this webinar Stephen Reimer, Associate Fellow at RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security, presented the findings from his two recently published RUSI reports on authoritarian abuses of the FATF standards.

Attribution

The presentation was on the record, and the Q&A off the record.