FATF updates global rules to balance sanctions and humanitarian aid (Photo: UNICEF)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, has revised its global standards on targeted financial sanctions to help ensure that humanitarian assistance can continue to reach people affected by crises while maintaining measures against terrorism financing.
In a press statement, FATF says that the changes apply to Recommendation 6, which requires countries to implement targeted financial sanctions in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions on preventing and suppressing terrorism and terrorist financing.
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The statement adds that under the revised standards, countries will be required to implement the humanitarian exemptions contained in UN Security Council Resolutions 2664, 2761 and 2615. The exemptions are intended to ensure that sanctions do not prevent the delivery of funds, goods, services and other resources needed for humanitarian assistance and basic human needs.
FATF says that the revisions align its standards with the United Nations framework and are designed to ensure that humanitarian organisations can continue their work without unnecessary disruptions caused by financial sanctions.
Elisa de Anda Madrazo
The update forms part of the FATF’s broader effort to reduce unintended consequences arising from the implementation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures. The organisation said it will continue promoting a risk-based approach that addresses financial crime while safeguarding access to humanitarian assistance.
“Measures to counter terrorism and its financing are essential to our collective security. As the Security Council has underscored, these measures are not intended to impede the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance or the provision of basic human needs. Our frameworks must ensure that both objectives can be upheld in a balanced and effective manner, and I urge all countries to take note of the important revisions the FATF has made to align with the UN framework,” says Elisa de Anda Madrazo, President, FATF.
