FATF team in India to hold on-site review meetings

Officials of the Paris-headquartered inter-governmental body are in the country to check the required legal framework in place against money-laundering and terrorist financing

A flag with the logo of the Financial Action Task Force next to the German national flag during a meeting of the task force in Berlin Germany in 2022. File | Photo Credit: AP

A Financial Action Task Force (FATF) team is in India as part of the process to conduct the country’s mutual evaluations to ascertain if the authorities have put in place and effectively implemented the required legal framework against money-laundering and terrorist financing.

It is learnt that the team arrived in Delhi in the first week of November. During the on-site visit, for around two weeks, the team members will hold meetings with senior government officials and representatives of the private sector.

“Usually, such an FATF team comprises over a dozen members. They include FATF Secretariat officials and domain experts. They may meet senior functionaries of the Department of Revenue under the Finance Ministry and officials of various enforcement agencies, such as Enforcement Directorate, Narcotics Control Bureau and National Investigation Agency [as it enforces the anti-terror Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act], and financial regulators,” said a government official.

The official said the FATF, which is likely to visit Mumbai as well, may also meet civil society representatives.

According to the inter-governmental body, mutual evaluations are peer reviews where members from different countries assess another country. The process starts with the selection of the legal, financial and law enforcement experts for the assessment team. The country concerned provides to them all relevant laws and regulations that are in place to prevent criminal abuse of the financial system.

Assessors analyse the information, primarily looking at the technical requirements of the FATF standards. A draft report is then prepared identifying areas of focus for the on-site visit. After the visit, a draft mutual evaluation report covering both the elements of technical compliance and effectiveness is brought out. It goes through various cycles of discussions and review by the assessed country and independent reviewers, as per the information on the FATF website.

The FATF plenary discusses the findings, include the ratings, and adopts the final report for publication. In India’s case, the report may be discussed during the June 2024 plenary.