Israel is set to take a significant step in the international war against money laundering and black capital.
Israel has been invited to join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Membership would be subject to an international audit on Israel's own procedures. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) can be seen as the international standard-setter in the fight against terrorist financing and money laundering.
It was established in 1989, by a Group of Seven (G-7) Summit held in Paris. The summit recognized the growing threat posed by money laundering to the banking system and financial institutions and set up the FATF to develop and promote national and international policies, globally, to help eliminate this threat.
In 2001, the FATF took over responsibility for the development of standards in the fight against terrorist financing.
The FATF’s main responsibility is to ensure global action to combat money laundering and terrorist financing is undertaken. Since its creation, the FATF has been at the forefront of measures designed to counter criminal attempts to use the financial system to further criminal and terrorist purposes.
The invitation to join the organization is a major diplomatic achievement for Israel. Membership has been sought by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in recent years as part of a joint effort with the Ministry of Justice's Israel Financial Intelligence Unit (IMPA) which strives for the prohibition of money laundering and terrorist financing.
