(Bloomberg) -- The head of a global watchdog that combats money laundering and terrorist financing signaled that the Financial Action Task Force will dedicate greater attention to the shortcomings facing some of its wealthiest members in the years ahead.
Elisa de Anda Madrazo, 42, who took over as president of the Paris-based FATF in July, said her top priority in office is to support actions that boost transparency and inclusion, with an eye toward holding the most developed countries particularly accountable.
In one of the first major actions in her tenure, the FATF revealed Thursday that it’s changing the criteria for gray-list decisions, prioritizing reviews for countries that are FATF members, appear on the World Bank’s High-Income Countries List or have financial sector assets surpassing $10 billion. Jurisdictions deemed least developed countries by the United Nations will in turn not be prioritized for reviews unless the watchdog agrees that they pose a significant illicit finance risk.
“What’s changed is how we treat the countries that have such strategic deficiencies,” De Anda said in an interview. “If you’re an FATF member or a high-income country, you’ll be held to a higher standard.”
The pivot comes amid criticism that the watchdog’s been overly tough on emerging-market countries while granting its most powerful members — like those in the Group of Seven most advanced economies — greater leeway. De Anda said those nations aren’t immune from censure, citing a recent FATF report that called out jurisdictions including the US, Australia and Switzerland for failing to adequately regulate designated non-financial businesses and professions, or so-called DNFBPs, which include casinos, lawyers and real estate agents.
By her estimate, the new FATF gray-listing criteria will cut in half the number of least developed countries entering the category in the upcoming assessment cycle.
Harvard Alum
A native of Mexico City, De Anda said that witnessing a surge in crime back home during her school days led her to question how she might address it with her training as a lawyer. She pursued master’s degrees at Harvard University in law and public policy before returning to Mexico to work in the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit’s Financial Intelligence Unit. That role ultimately led to her involvement with the FATF.
Next week’s plenary in Paris will mark the first in De Anda’s two-year presidency. Apart from the FATF members, the meeting will also include two guests — the Cayman Islands and Senegal — as part of a new initiative by the president.
Lebanon is poised to get added to the FATF’s gray list as early as the summit’s final day while Senegal is close to removal from the table of nations subject to increased monitoring, Bloomberg News reported earlier this week. While Russia will be discussed, it’s unlikely the group makes changes to its so-called black list, which currently features Iran, North Korea and Myanmar, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information. A representative for the FATF declined to comment.
De Anda said international cooperation is of utmost importance, emphasizing her desire to address inconsistencies vis-a-vis the EU’s illicit finance black list.
One noteworthy example came earlier this year when the FATF removed the United Arab Emirates from its gray list while the EU later kept the Gulf state on its list of high-risk countries for money laundering.
“We want to provide certainty and clarity to stakeholders,” she said. “Misalignment is an issue. To the extent that we can have alignment there, it would be ideal.”
On the policy side, De Anda touted citizenship-by-investment reforms as a success story spurred by the FATF’s research on how such programs can be exploited by criminals seeking to launder their money, conceal their identities and hide their assets.
She listed beneficial ownership, asset recovery and virtual assets as points of emphasis for the remainder of her presidency.
“I want to close the loopholes,” De Anda said. “These are the three key areas.”
--With assistance from Thomas Hall and Alberto Nardelli.
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