Vienna, May 5-8: The group of NPO experts from regions around the world facing restrictions due to AML/CFT rules and regulations reconvened in Vienna (after the formation and training of this technical Expert Hub in The Hague in January 2018) to discuss progress made during the last few months in their countries/regions and new/emerging challenges. Organised by ICNL, ECNL and HSC, and with representation from 29 countries, the peer to peer exchange was rich and fruitful. The Hub also engaged with the FATF Secretariat and select government representatives on the implementation of Recommendation 8.

The Senior Legal Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism also joined the Hub workshop and spoke about new trends and restrictions affecting NPOs. Discussed also were issues around Risk Assessments, the financial access of NPOs (so called 'bank de-risking') and money laundering and NPOs. Advocacy strategies and the way forward were discussed at some length. A number of Hub participants attended the FATF NPO consultation on  Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment Guidance on May 6 as part of the FATF's Private Sector Consultative Forum, making strong and relevant contributions to the topic.

The Global NPO Coalition also submitted written comments to the FATF which will hopefully be taken into account when preparing the Guidance (the Coalition was not privy to a draft). See here for a detailed agenda of the Expert Hub workshop. For a full report, click here.