FATF Ministers Reiterate Commitment to Tackling Illicit Finance
Summary
FATF Ministers at the April 2026 biennial Ministerial Meeting held in Washington D.C. reiterated their political commitment to tackling illicit finance through multilateral coordinated action. Ministers agreed to focus efforts on the growing threat of fraud and strengthening effective risk-based implementation of the FATF Standards. The declaration was issued in the margins of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
What changed
This ministerial declaration represents a political commitment by FATF member jurisdictions rather than a binding regulatory instrument. The declaration reaffirms multilateral cooperation on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing priorities, with particular emphasis on fraud as a growing threat and the importance of risk-based implementation of FATF Standards.
Financial institutions and regulated entities should note that while the declaration does not create new compliance obligations, it signals the thematic direction FATF will emphasize in forthcoming mutual evaluations and policy guidance. Jurisdictions should review their frameworks for addressing fraud-related money laundering risks and ensure risk-based approaches to FATF Standards implementation are well-documented.
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Apr 22, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
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Ministerial Declaration of the Financial Action Task Force - April 2026
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Ministerial Declaration April 2026
Filename Ministerial-Declaration-April-2026.pdf Size 198 KB Format application/pdf Read the Declaration
FATF Ministers agree key priorities in fight against illicit finance in Washington DC
Washington, D.C., 17 April 2026 – Ministers from across the globe have today reiterated their commitment to tackling illicit finance through multilateral coordinated action under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), agreeing to focus in particular efforts on the growing threat of fraud and strengthening an effective risk-based implementation of the FATF Standards.
At the biennial FATF Ministerial Meeting, held in the margins of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings, FATF Ministers underscored the harms on societies fuelled by illicit finance that undermines national and global security, corrodes institutions and impedes economic growth and sustainable development.
They noted that countries across the world continue to face heinous terrorist attacks and persistent threats from global proliferation actors. Ministers made clear that countering money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation financing of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT/CPF) promptly and decisively remains an urgent global priority.
With the fraud epidemic growing in size, scale and reach, Ministers committed to deploying the full AML/CFT/CPF toolkit to disrupt and combat the threat of fraud, and to deepen understanding of fraud in all its forms, including organised scam centres and the misuse of legal persons, virtual assets and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
To ensure the strategic prioritisation of resources across the public and private sectors, Ministers also committed to supporting the full and effective implementation of the risk-based approach, the cornerstone of the FATF Standards.
FATF President, Elisa de Anda Madrazo said : “When we mitigate risk intelligently, we protect people – not just systems. Tackling the biggest threats by applying a risk-based approach is the only way we can reduce the grave security threats we have discussed today.”
Ministers also expressed support for responsible innovation in finance, recognising that technology can enhance supervisory and compliance effectiveness. The Ministerial Declaration welcomes the FATF’s revised Standards on payment transparency, which should increase the safety and security of cross-border payments, and supports FATF’s continued work on emerging technologies for digital payments and associated risks.
Ministers committed to leading by example in the full, swift and effective implementation of the FATF Standards, and by submitting their countries to rigorous, consistent and risk-based peer assessments that drive tangible progress to ensure that crime does not pay.
They also recognised the FATF’s critical role in safeguarding the integrity of the international financial system and the value of collective expertise across the FATF Global Network through close partnerships with FATF-Style Regional Bodies.
Read the full Ministerial Declaration here.
The FATF will hold its next Ministerial Meeting in 2028.
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FATF’s mandate recognises the need for FATF to continue to lead decisive, co-ordinated and effective global action to counter the threats of the abuse of the financial system by criminals and terrorists, and strengthens its capacity to respond to these threats that all countries face. ## FATF
The members and observer organisations of the Financial Action Task Force.
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