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Weighing Revisions, FATF Unlikely to Weaken PEP Recommendations
By Brian Monroe
printThe Financial Action Task Force is likely to reject a proposal that would soften its standard on compliance controls for the accounts of political figures, according to an official at the intergovernmental group. The organization, known as FATF, requested comments in October on proposed changes to its 49 recommendations, including amendments that would make tax crimes a predicate offense to money laundering. A proposal on politically exposed persons (PEPs) would free financial institutions from having to apply extra scrutiny on accounts controlled by family members and associates of PEPs. While the group is still considering dozens of recommendations and reviewing...
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A new grading system by an intergovernmental group on how effectively jurisdictions fight money laundering and terrorist financing is likely to compel global financial institutions to rethink their geographic risk-rankings.
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The Financial Action Task Force is weighing whether to ask jurisdictions to loosen their privacy laws and require companies to retain data on their owners, among other changes to the group's standards.
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Accepting corruption proceeds from "politically exposed persons" is money laundering plain and simple. But there's no sure-fire way of identifying this specific high-risk category of customer and the possible corrupt source of his or her money.