A two-day event, titled Risk and Consequence: The Future of FATF Recommendation 8 for Financial Integrity and for Civil Society and co-organised by the EU AML/CFT Global Facility, the Global NPO Coalition on FATF, and GIZ, convened policymakers, standard setters, financial institutions, nonprofit organisations (NPOs), multilateral organisations, academics and think tanks to discuss the FATF financial integrity standards as they impact NPOs, and potential and innovative ways forward. The global convening followed on from a series of regional meetings (co-organised by the EU AML/CFT Global Facility and ICNL) to gather input for the revision of the FATF Standard related to NPOs (Recommendation 8) and the guidance paper on the implementation of the Standard (the Best Practices Paper) – new versions of both of which are expected post the October 2023 FATF Plenary meeting.

The need for revision was triggered by years of NPO advocacy, led by the Global NPO Coalition, forcing the FATF to set up the Unintended Consequences workstream in 2021, which is looking at mitigating the unintended impact of the implementation of their Standards – the four impacts identified included NPO suppression, de-risking, financial exclusion and the curtailment of Human Rights (with a focus on Due Process and Procedural Rights).

The meeting in Bonn was convened with an aim to take stock of where we are today with regards to the FATF financial integrity framework as it relates to NPOs and chart the course forward in terms of reforms. For a full report of the meeting, see here. 

Picture copyright: EU AML/CFT Global Facility