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This paper analyses the international regime of rules, principles and standards designed to reduce the risk of money laundering in the international financial system. The international anti‐money‐laundering regime ranges from a variety of soft law (non‐binding) principles and rules that involve voluntary cooperative arrangements among states that have evolved in recent years, to a more specific legal framework that binds an increasing number of major states. In particular, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and its member states have played a crucial role in developing international norms and rules that require financial institutions to adopt minimum levels of transparency and disclosure to prevent financial crime. The FATF has focused its anti‐money‐laundering efforts on financial institutions because of the ease with which criminal groups have used financial institutions to transmit the proceeds of their illicit activities and because of the threat that money laundering poses to the systemic stability of financial systems.

This paper aims to investigate the purpose, reach and effectiveness of the customer identification framework of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The article draws on relevant research and documents of the FATF, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion to determine whether compliance with the standards and practices of the FATF would prevent anonymous usage of financial services.

The FATF’s identification principles, guidance and practices resulted in processes that are largely bureaucratic and do not ensure that identity fraud is effectively prevented. Strict identification requirements on the other hand may impact on financial inclusion, leaving the FATF with little leeway to raise its standards. There are potential solutions, but they are longer-term and partial in nature.

Current identification and verification practices affect the lives of millions of people around the globe. The measures are being enforced to ensure that users are appropriately identified. This article informs the debate by highlighting the weaknesses of the current approach.

To identify the reason of Japan not complying with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendation 35 and suggesting a strategic solution to overcoming the barrier.

Through contextual, historical, and legal analysis of the anti-money laundering (AML) measures in Japan.

This paper implies that less flexible mindsets in stone of major players in the field of AML measures in Japan are the fundamental barrier for Japan not complying with the FATF Recommendation 35, while this paper suggests better realistic ways to address the barrier.

The novel point of this paper is that this paper illustriously uncovers the mindsets of the major players pertaining to the Japanese AML measures in a very illustrative way, points out the underlying true barrier, and describes a useful strategy desperately needed to address the barrier.

Based on an overview of the anti-money laundering initiatives in the sport sector and recent efforts of money launderers focused toward finding alternative channels for money laundering operations, the purpose of this paper is to present the modus operandi of money laundering in the football sector especially.

Specifics of money laundering through the football sector have been analyzed using deductive and inductive methods. This paper provides a review of the existing anti-money laundering initiatives in the sport sector to highlight the specific features of sport that increase money-laundering risks in the football sector. Certain risks have been analyzed and linked to risk areas and money laundering methods as a way of demonstrating established modus operandi.

Analyzed vulnerabilities that arise from the structure, financial characteristics and culture of the football sector represent an increased risk of money laundering in a condition where potential money launderers achieve status of investors, football agents or owners of football clubs and players. Taking some of these roles allows money launderers to enter into transactions related to the acquisition of ownership over football clubs or player transfers. Such types of transactions are particularly exposed to abuse for the purposes of the money laundering process due to their unique features.

Through a wide range of clarified risks and money laundering methods applicable to the football sector, this paper offers a comprehensive review of the existing money laundering threats in the football sector and proposals of prevention.

This study aims to examine the effect of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliance on the degree of financial inclusion (FI) across 174 economies during the period from 2011 to 2021, including developed and developing countries.

This paper uses panel dynamic threshold regression to examine whether there is a threshold effect that exists in FATF compliance.

The findings show that FATF regulations enhance financial inclusiveness all over the world, but at the same time, FATF regulations regarding AML/CFT implications impose a high cost on financial institutions above the threshold of FATF compliance.

This study’s findings indicate that nations should undertake deliberate struggle to reduce the prevalence of money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing by putting in place effective FATF regulatory frameworks to support FI.

This study’s findings indicate that nations should undertake deliberate struggle to reduce the prevalence of ML and terrorism financing by putting in place effective FATF regulatory frameworks to support FI. Regulators must, however, guarantee that the process is cost-effective and efficient.

This study aims to define the role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and its Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs) that combat money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) by measuring how well some Arab countries have complied with FATF’s “Forty Recommendations” with respect to the regulatory framework.

This study combines the comparative analysis methodology with a descriptive analytical approach to compare three member countries of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF). It uses secondary data sources, namely, theoretical literature on the subject and FATF reports on mutual evaluation reports (MERs).

This study examined the variations in compliance with FATF standards among three member countries of MENAFATF: Bahrain, Morocco and Jordan. While Bahrain has almost completely fulfilled these standards, Morocco and Jordan have only partially fulfilled them. These variations in compliance are mainly attributed to the uneven level of readiness in the countries’ commitment to the legislative and regulatory requirements before the process of mutual evaluation.

Researchers can find several studies on the role of FATF and FSRBs in combating ML and TF. However, no studies have focussed on the application levels of FATF standards, which are relevant to the regulatory frameworks of member countries. This study makes a unique and vital contribution, as it demonstrates the effectiveness of applying the FATF standards.

On 22nd June, 2000, after a good deal of speculation, the much anticipated list of non‐cooperative countries was made public by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). They had assessed 31 countries before deciding on the final 15, deemed non‐cooperative as their laws and practices were construed as providing an impediment to the fight against money laundering. They were the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Israel, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Panama, Philippines, Russia, St Kitts & Nevis and St Vincent & Grenadines. Unfortunately for the Dominican Republic, a number of news sources from around the world substituted them for Dominica, assuming the two names referred to the same country.

This paper aims to analyze thoroughly all of the sources of research used to develop the money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) low-risk rating, a rating attained by Norway according to the Basel Institute of Governance, and determine the reasons why Norway is one of only two countries in the world according to the 2012 report, with the other being Estonia, to gain an overall low-risk ML and TF rating.

The differences between the USA and Norway which has obtained a low-risk ranking, were compared and contrasted.

Beginning with the Basel Institute Rating index as a legitimate source for use in assessing anti-money-laundering (AML)/TF risk, and the amount of documentation used in the index’s methodology, it has been proven that the low-risk rating Norway has received is well deserved, and that the US rating of medium risk is also deserved for the time the report was published. Achieving a low-risk rating is not as ambiguous as recently thought and neither is its application on a global scale.

The paper identifies practical areas of improvement and concerns in addressing the overall issue of ML and terrorist financing.

Thirty years after its creation, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has become a prime example of a norm-building process that transcends the traditional avenues of public international law, while compelling a high level of compliance and assuring quick adaptation to norms and practices that better address money laundering and the financing of terrorism in their evolving form. On the occasion of FATF’s 30th anniversary, this paper aims to revisit the unique characteristics of FATF and the factors behind FATF’s success as standard-setter and as implementation-reviewer in the anti-money laundering (AML)/CFT context.

This paper draws on primary sources of law, legal scholarship, reports and other open source data to analyse the FATF norm-building process and the factors behind its success.

Thirty years after its creation, the FATF has established itself as the key standard-setter, implementation-reviewer and force for reform in the AML/CFT context. Though the FATF norm-building process has been very successful, owing to its flexibility, adaptability and expansiveness, significant challenges lay ahead due to the evolving nature of money laundering and financing of terrorism.

This is a comprehensive study examining the achievements, impact, strengths and weaknesses of the FATF norm-building process on the occasion of the organisation’s 30th anniversary.

This paper aims to examine the extent of successes and challenges of adoption and implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) codes in member states by highlighting the influence of the FATF anti-money laundering policy framework on money laundering (ML) and the way forward in heightening the fight against the fast-evolving nature of ML and terrorist financing activities.

This paper, based on a purely qualitative desktop study, is drawn on historical information from FATF’s recommendations, its periodic reports, publications and other secondary sources such as books, journal articles on financial systems and scholarly literature.

The challenges found include difficulty in domestic coordination, capacity constraints of countries, inadequate operational resources and assessment complexities in the implementation of FATF standards. Nonetheless, FATF has chalked some successes such as the harmonization of legislation and enforcement efforts through the provision of coordination points. Other successes include flexibility in response to new threats, adoption of the mutual evaluation process, which advanced peer pressure on defaulting members, enhancement of the international financial space and the enhancement of the legitimization of FATF’s processes.

This paper provides a description of the successes and challenges of the FATF’s 40 + 9 recommendations since its establishment. The outcome would alert countries and players within the international financial space to invest more in capacity building and the entrenchment of the recommendations into their domestic laws.