Transparency is an important theme in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, including in relation to efforts on combatting crime.
In the Addis Agenda, Governments:
- Commit to strengthen international cooperation and national institutions to combat money-laundering and financing of terrorism
- Commit to identify, assess and act on money-laundering risks, including through effective implementation of the Financial Action Task Force standards on anti-money-laundering/ counter-terrorism financing
- Encourage information-sharing among financial institutions to mitigate the potential impact of the anti-money-laundering and combating the financing of terrorism standard on reducing access to financial services
Latest developments
Combating money-laundering helps to preserve the integrity of financial institutions, both formal and informal, and protect the smooth operation of the international financial system. The UNCAC includes article 14, which obligates all States parties to set up a regulatory regime for financial institutions in order to deter and detect all forms of money-laundering, while article 23 requires the criminalization of the laundering of proceeds of crime. In the Addis Agenda, Member States committed to identify, assess and act on money-laundering risks, including through effective implementation of the FATF standards on anti-money-laundering/counter-terrorism financing. As its 40 members and observers include all members of the Group of 20, and all major financial centres, FATF standards operate as de facto global standards for the world’s financial system. FATF conducts peer review for adherence to its standards, as do nine FATF-style regional bodies covering most countries of the world.