Member Countries and Observers FAQ

FATF Members and Observers FAQ

July 2008

Q: Which jurisdictions are members of the FATF?

There are currently 34 members of the FATF; 32 jurisdictions and 2 regional organisations (the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Commission). These 34 Members are at the core of global efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. There are also 27 international and regional organisations which are Associate Members or Observers of the FATF and participate in its work.

Q: Are India and Korea members of the FATF?

India and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) are Members of the APG (the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering), a FATF-style regional body. Both countries are working with the FATF towards becoming FATF Members. Korea became an FATF Observer in October 2006 and India became an FATF Observer in February 2007.

Q: Are all countries which are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council also members of the FATF?

Although the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a full Member of the FATF, the individual Member countries of the GCC (of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) are not. As an FATF Member, the GCC is committed to implementing the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) measures agreed to by the FATF Members - in particular, the FATF Forty Recommendations and Nine Special Recommendations.
 
To monitor and assess the progress of its Members in implementing FATF standards, the FATF conducts a mutual evaluation exercise. As the GCC member countries are not Members of the FATF themselves, their mutual evaluations are conducted primarily by the regional AML/CFT body in northern Africa and the Middle East (MENAFATF), with the FATF also participating.

Q: Are Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles members of the FATF?

The Kingdom of the Netherlands (which comprises the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba) is a member of the FATF. Thus the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are together a Member of the FATF.

Q: Are Jersey, Guernsey the Isle of Man and Gibraltar FATF members?

The Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey) and the Isle of Man are not FATF Members. They are Crown Dependencies of the United Kingdom (which is an FATF Member) and members of the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors (OGBS), a body that is an observer to the FATF. The OGBS conducts evaluations of its Members’ anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems.

Gibraltar is not a Member of the FATF. However, Gibraltar is a member of the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors (OGBS), which is an FATF Observer.

Q: Is membership of the FATF closed?

The FATF membership, which has representatives from the 6 continents, is diverse. 

Since 2000 there have been three rounds of enlargement of the FATF membership; Argentina, Brazil and Mexico in 2000, then Russia and South Africa in 2003, and China in 2006. The FATF currently has two Observer countries, the Republic of Korea and India, which have started the process to ultimately become FATF Members. The FATF is not closed to the prospect of further expansion of its membership in the future.   

The FATF also works closely with the 9 FATF-style Regional Bodies representing jurisdictions in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and South America. These organisations have forms and functions similar to the FATF, but have a more regional focus. 

At last count, the broader FATF network of FATF Members and members of the regional groups comprised 182 jurisdictions from across all continents.

Q: What are the criteria that must be met for a country to become a Member of the FATF?

FATF membership policy, February 2008

Q: What are the criteria that must be met for an organisation to become an Observer of the FATF?

FATF policy on observers, June 2008