**Anti-Money Laundering / Combatting Terrorist Financing**

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is meeting in Plenary on October 20-22 to discuss further measures to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.

Also on the Plenary agenda is the progress made by non-cooperative countries and territories (NCCT) in combating money laundering.

The FATF announced today that its President Mr. Jean-Louis Fort, and the Acting Head of the FATF Secretariat, Mr. John Carlson, will outline the Plenary’s decisions at a news conference to be held immediately following the Plenary, at the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry in Paris.

The FATF expanded its mission beyond money laundering in 2001, in order to “focus its energy and expertise on a world-wide effort to combat terrorist financing.” At that time, it issued new international standards to combat terrorist financing – i.e. the Eight Special Recommendations (complementing its Forty Recommendations).

Shortly afterwards, the FATF announced its plan to initiate a self-assessment exercise for the special recommendations on terrorist financing. The first phase of this exercise involved the collection and preliminary analysis of relevant data for FATF members, and was completed and the results published by the FATF Plenary in June 2002.

The FATF called on non-FATF members to take part in the self-assessment for the Eight Special Recommendations starting in February 2002. This participation of jurisdictions from throughout the world was intended to be on the same terms as FATF members. A significant number of countries responded by completing and submitting self-assessment questionnaires to the FATF. The Bahamas participated in the exercise, submitting its report on May 7, 2002.