The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (
FATF) is an international body whose purpose is the development and promotion of strategies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The FATF was established in 1989 by the G7 countries and has
36 members, among which are the main financial centres, including Switzerland.
The FATF has published 49 recommendations, and while they are not legally binding (soft law), they have been recognised and adopted internationally. They define the measures that a country should take to combat money laundering and terrorist financing effectively. The World Bank, the IMF and the UN Security Council have officially recognised them as international standards and some 150 countries around the world have undertaken to comply with them. They comprise
40 recommendations on combating money laundering, fully revised in June 2003, and
9 special recommendations on combating terrorist financing adopted following the attacks of 11 September 2001. Swiss provisions relating to the due diligence obligations of banks and other financial intermediaries are in line with FATF requirements.