Who's the Legislator Anyway? How the Fatf's Global Norms Reshape Australian Counter Terrorist Financing Laws

Abstract

<jats:p> This article focuses on the Australian implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations, so-called ‘soft law’ instruments, which represent the international standards in Counter Terrorist Financing (CTF) but which force legislators to conform. The article will fill the gaps existing in the literature today by focusing on the origins and motives of broad CTF legislation in Australia, then detailing each of the FATF's CTF Recommendations and the ways in which they are implemented in Australia. This approach differs significantly from other literature in the field, which deals solely with Australian implementation of one of the FATF's components. The current paper's examination will reveal the CTF regime in Australia, a decade after the FATF's first CTF Mutual Evaluation Report on Australia, and its decisive influence. </jats:p>

From later to sooner: exploring compliance with the global regime of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing in the legal profession

“…The FATF has recommended that countries adopt domestic laws to require lawyers, notaries and other independent legal professionals to engage in AML/CTF practices and to identify, assess and manage the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with their practice. While the FATF recommendations are not legally binding, they reflect the current international standards in AML/CTF and they generally enjoy high levels of compliance [61]. The FATF assesses compliance with its recommendations by member states through its mutual evaluation process.…”

“…The inclusion of legal professionals in the preventative measures of the AML/CTF regime proved contentious, with considerable debate about the appropriateness of such a move and challenges from bodies representing the profession. Because of their integral role in the legal system and their duty to clients, to the public, and to "the mechanism of law that organizes society", the co-opting of lawyers into money laundering prevention was said to present "strains that are more pronounced than in the regulation of other professions, industries or sectors" (Gallant, 2013). The primary concerns expressed by the profession related to the independence of lawyers, legal professional privilege and the duty of confidentiality.…”

Adapting confiscation and anti-money laundering laws to the digital economy: exploring the Australian interplay between proceeds and technology

“…The FATF is an intergovernmental body responsible for setting the global AML (and counterterrorist financing and proliferation) standards through a system of 40 non-binding recommendations (Goldbarsht, 2017;Abbott et al, 2015). The recommendations, first published in April 1990, summarise the key elements of the relevant conventions and are followed by explanatory notes.…”

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“…11. See Sharman, supra Note 5; Wong (2013), p. 225; Goldbarsht (2017), p. 129; Mitsilegas and Vavoula (2016), pp. 262–266; Turner and Bainbridge (2018), pp.…”