FATF issues updates

FATF has:

• reported to the G20 on its current work: highlights of the report include its work on crypto-currencies and assets, improving transparency of beneficial ownership, de-risking, and fintech/regtech and digital identity;
• published its objectives during its US presidency: it will prioritise work on virtual currencies, as well as the now standard work on CFT and proliferation financing; and
• published a report, with the Egmont Group, on concealment of beneficial ownership. The report assesses the vulnerabilities linked to concealment of this information by using case studies that identify how criminal hide beneficial ownership. It looks at the roles of trust and company service providers and the use of nominee directors and shareholders. It also notes how professional intermediaries can help to create or operate the structures, even if unwittingly.