Features of legal nature Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering FATF
Authors: Pereverzyeva Оlga , Gadjiev Vasif 
Published: February 2021

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the legal nature of FATF, the process of its creation, the legal principles of activity,as well as the speciality of its legal entity. Attention is also devoted to the main Conventions, which were signed on the eve of The FirstWorld War and after The Second World War and shows the main preconditions and reasons for the creation of the intergovernmentalorganization FATF.The ongoing growth of the drug business, the expansion of its geographical boundaries, increasingly sophisticated and dangerousforms of this criminal business, the struggle of states on large-scale crime related to the legalization of criminal proceeds led to the creationof FATF and it achieved important results in this area.FATF cannot be considered by an international organization because it has not been established on the basis of an internationaltreaty and does not have an approved statute. However, despite this, FATF has a decision to establish a group – this is the legal basisfor its activities and is an intergovernmental organization. Analysis of FATF’s activities shows that FATF’s initial priority was to combatlaundering of proceeds from drug trafficking. Today FATF’s activities have three main directions: expanding the actions of its adoptedrecommendations to all continents and regions of the globe; checking how member states are executed and how anti-money launderingmeasures are implemented in other states, based on 40 plus 9 FATF recommendations that are guidance to action; tracking worldwidemethods and schemes of laundering criminally used capital and developing countermeasures. To date, a set of 40 FATF recommendationsand 9 Special Recommendations for Countering The Financing of Terrorism is a set of universal standards that lead to a successfulfight against money laundering. The new version of this document was adopted in 1996, 2003 and 2012. One of FATF activities is todefine so-called non-cooperative countries and territories and make their list, which is called the «blacklist». Although the country’sinclusion in the “blacklist” does not lead to the application of sanctions by the world community, it indicates a degree of trust in it onthe part of foreign investors. Lacking the status of an international legal act, FATF’s recommendations in practice received generalrecognition as universal international standards in the field of anti-money laundering. Successful work on counteracting the launderingof dirty funds should be carried out simultaneously at two levels – at international and national levels. FATF functions – to monitor theprocesses of implementation of such measures, to study ways and techniques of money laundering, to develop preventive and preventivemeasures, to promote the global implementation of anti-money laundering standards. FATF’s recommendations in practice receivedgeneral recognition as universal international standards in the field of anti-money laundering. Every year FATF organizes meetings onthe analysis of methods and trends related to combating the laundering of criminal proceeds and financing of terrorism.