Governments around the world have systematically misused the Financial Action Task Force’s standards on money laundering and financial crime to crack down on domestic opponents, using trumped-up charges to freeze opponents’ bank accounts and gather sensitive banking information on non-profits, according to a new study.
FATF’s framework of measures — known as “recommendations” — designed to combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons have been followed closely by regulators and financial institutions around the world, with those deemed to fall short placed on the body’s “grey” and “black” lists.
