Issues
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MENAFATF Middle East and North African Financial Action Task Force Formation The Middle East and North African Financial Action Task Force was formed at an inaugural ministerial meeting in Bahrain on November 30, 2004 attended by the governments of fourteen countries. The current members are:
Objectives A July 2004 press release described MENAFATF's purpose as "the development and promotion of policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and terrorist financing" and working "to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas." MENAFATF is committed to ensuring compliance among all its member states with the FATF Forty Guidelines and the Nine Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing. Organisational Structure MENAFATF emphasizes that it is independent of any other international organisation and "sets its own work, rules and procedures." The Plenary is the dominant body consisting of individual appointees with an expertise in money laundering issues from each of the member states. A President and Vice President are chosen annually, who must both have expertise in money laundering and terrorist financing. A Secretariat also supports the task force. External Relations Observer Countries The United States and the United Kingdom attended the both first Plenary Meeting in April 2005 and the second in September 2005. France was an observer country in the latter. Observer Organisations The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) all attended the plenary meeting as observer institutions. The World Bank and the IMF have been particularly active in supporting or coordinating events within MENAFATF. |