General Glossary |
Terms | Definitions |
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Accounts | References to “accounts” should be read as including other similar business relationships between financial institutions and their customers. |
Accurate | Is used to describe information that has been verified for accuracy. |
Agent | For the purposes of Recommendations 14 and 16, agent means any natural or legal person providing MVTS on behalf of an MVTS provider, whether by contract with or under the direction of the MVTS provider. |
Appropriate authorities | For the purposes of Recommendation 8, refers to competent authorities, including regulators, tax authorities, FIUs, law enforcement, intelligence authorities, accrediting institutions, and potentially self-regulatory organisations in some jurisdictions. |
Associate NPOs | For the purposes of Recommendation 8, includes foreign branches of international NPOs, and NPOs with which partnerships have been arranged. |
Batch transfer | Is a transfer comprised of a number of individual wire transfers that are being sent to the same financial institutions, but may/may not be ultimately intended for different persons. |
Bearer negotiable instruments | Bearer negotiable instruments (BNIs) includes monetary instruments in bearer form such as: traveller’s cheques; negotiable instruments (including cheques, promissory notes and money orders) that are either in bearer form, endorsed without restriction, made out to a fictitious payee, or otherwise in such form that title thereto passes upon delivery; incomplete instruments (including cheques, promissory notes and money orders) signed, but with the payee’s name omitted. |
Bearer shares and bearer share warrants |
Bearer shares refers to negotiable instruments that accord ownership in a legal person to the person who possesses the physical bearer share certificate, and any other similar instruments without traceability. It does not refer to dematerialised and/or registered forms of share certificate whose oner can be identified. Bearer share warrants refers to negotiable instruments that accord entitlement to ownership in a legal person who possesses the physical bearer share warrant certificate, and any other similar warrants or instruments without traceability. It does not refer to dematerialised and/or registered form of warrants or other instruments whose owner can be identified. It also does not refer any other instruments that only confers a right to subscribe for ownership in a legal person at specified conditions, but not ownership or entitlement to ownership, unless and until the instruments are exercised. |
Beneficial owner | Beneficial owner refers to the natural person(s) who
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Beneficiary | The meaning of the term beneficiary in the FATF Recommendations depends on the context:
It also refers to those natural persons, or groups of natural persons who receive charitable, humanitarian or other types of assistance through the services of the NPO. Refers as well to the natural or legal person or legal arrangement who is identified by the originator as the receiver of the requested wire transfer. |
Beneficiary Financial Institution | Refers to the financial institution which receives the wire transfer from the ordering financial institution directly or through an intermediary financial institution and makes the funds available to the beneficiary. |
Beneficiaries | For the purposes of Recommendation 8, refers to those natural persons, or groups of natural persons who receive charitable, humanitarian or other types of assistance through the services of the NPO. |
Competent authorities | Competent authorities refers to all public authorities* This includes financial supervisors established as independent non-governmental authorities with statutory powers. with designated responsibilities for combating money laundering and/or terrorist financing. In particular, this includes the FIU; the authorities that have the function of investigating and/or prosecuting money laundering, associated predicate offences and terrorist financing, and seizing/freezing and confiscating criminal assets; authorities receiving reports on cross-border transportation of currency & BNIs; and authorities that have AML/CFT supervisory or monitoring responsibilities aimed at ensuring compliance by financial institutions and DNFBPs with AML/CFT requirements. SRBs are not to be regarded as a competent authorities. |
Confiscation | The term confiscation, which includes forfeiture where applicable, means the permanent deprivation of funds or other assets by order of a competent authority or a court. Confiscation or forfeiture takes place through a judicial or administrative procedure that transfers the ownership of specified funds or other assets to be transferred to the State*For the purposes of the effectiveness assessment, "confiscation" may have a wider application.. In this case, the person(s) or entity(ies) that held an interest in the specified funds or other assets at the time of the confiscation or forfeiture loses all rights, in principle, to the confiscated or forfeited funds or other assets. Confiscation or forfeiture orders are usually linked to a criminal conviction or a court decision whereby the confiscated or forfeited property is determined to have been derived from or intended for use in a violation of the law. |
Core Principles | Core Principles refers to the Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Objectives and Principles for Securities Regulation issued by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and the Insurance Supervisory Principles issued by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. |
Correspondent banking | Correspondent banking is the provision of banking services by one bank (the “correspondent bank”) to another bank (the “respondent bank”). Large international banks typically act as correspondents for thousands of other banks around the world. Respondent banks may be provided with a wide range of services, including cash management (e.g., interest-bearing accounts in a variety of currencies), international wire transfers, cheque clearing, payable-through accounts and foreign exchange services. |
Country | All references in the FATF Recommendations to country or countries apply equally to territories or jurisdictions. |
Cover Payment | Refers to a wire transfer that combines a payment message sent directly by the ordering financial institution to the beneficiary financial institution with the routing of the funding instruction (the cover) from the ordering financial institution to the beneficiary financial institution through one or more intermediary financial institutions. |
Criminal activity | Criminal activity refers to: (a) all criminal acts that would constitute a predicate offence for money laundering in the country; or (b) at a minimum to those offences that would constitute a predicate offence as required by Recommendation 3. |
Cross-border Wire Transfer | Refers to any wire transfer where the ordering financial institution and beneficiary financial institution are located in different countries. This term also refers to any chain of wire transfer in which at least one of the financial institutions involved is located in a different country. |
Currency | Currency refers to banknotes and coins that are in circulation as a medium of exchange. |
Designated categories of offences | Designated categories of offences means:
When deciding on the range of offences to be covered as predicate offences under each of the categories listed above, each country may decide, in accordance with its domestic law, how it will define those offences and the nature of any particular elements of those offences that make them serious offences. |
Designated nonfinancial businesses and professions | Designated non-financial businesses and professions means:
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Designated person or entity | The term designated person or entity refers to:
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Designation | The term designation refers to the identification of a person*Natural or legal., individual or entity that is subject to targeted financial sanctions pursuant to:
As far as Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) and any future successor resolutions are concerned, references to “designations” apply equally to “listing”. |
Domestic Wire Transfer | Refers to any wire transfer where the ordering financial institution and beneficiary financial institution are located in the same country. This term therefore refers to any chain of wire transfer that takes place entirely within the borders of a single country, even though the system used to transfer the payment message may be located in another country. The term also refers to any chain of wire transfer that takes place entirely within the borders of the European Economic Area (EEA)*An entity may petition the FATF to be designated as a supra-national jurisdiction for the purposes of and limited to an assessment of Recommendation 16 compliance.. |
Enforceable means | The term “Enforceable means” refers to regulations, guidelines, instructions or other documents or mechanisms that set out enforceable AML/CFT requirements in mandatory language with sanctions for non-compliance, and which are issued or approved by a competent authority. The sanctions for non- compliance should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (see Recommendation 35). |
Ex Parte | The term ex parte means proceeding without prior notification and participation of the affected party. |
Express trust | Express trust refers to a trust clearly created by the settlor, usually in the form of a document e.g. a written deed of trust. They are to be contrasted with trusts which come into being through the operation of the law and which do not result from the clear intent or decision of a settlor to create a trust or similar legal arrangements (e.g. constructive trust). |
False declaration | Refers to a misrepresentation of the value of currency or BNIs being transported, or a misrepresentation of other relevant data which is required for submission in the declaration or otherwise requested by the authorities. This includes failing to make a declaration as required. |
False disclosure | Refers to a misrepresentation of the value of currency or BNIs being transported, or a misrepresentation of other relevant data which is asked for upon request in the disclosure or otherwise requested by the authorities. This includes failing to make a disclosure as required. |
Financial group | Financial group means a group that consists of a parent company or of any other type of legal person exercising control and coordinating functions over the rest of the group, together with branches and/or subsidiaries that are subject to AML/CFT policies and procedures at the group level. |
Financial institutions | Financial institutions means any natural or legal person who conducts as a business one or more of the following activities or operations for or on behalf of a customer:
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Foreign counterparts | Foreign counterparts refers to foreign competent authorities that exercise similar responsibilities and functions in relation to the co-operation which is sought, even where such foreign competent authorities have a different nature or status (e.g., depending on the country, AML/CFT supervision of certain financial sectors may be performed by a supervisor that also has prudential supervisory responsibilities or by a supervisory unit of the FIU). |
Freeze | In the context of confiscation and provisional measures (e.g., Recommendations 4, 32 and 38), the term freeze means to prohibit the transfer, conversion, disposition or movement of any property, equipment or other instrumentalities on the basis of, and for the duration of the validity of, an action initiated by a competent authority or a court under a freezing mechanism, or until a forfeiture or confiscation determination is made by a competent authority. For the purposes of Recommendations 6 and 7 on the implementation of targeted financial sanctions, the term freeze means to prohibit the transfer, conversion, disposition or movement of any funds or other assets that are owned or controlled by designated persons or entities on the basis of, and for the duration of the validity of, an action initiated by the United Nations Security Council or in accordance with applicable Security Council resolutions by a competent authority or a court. In all cases, the frozen property, equipment, instrumentalities, funds or other assets remain the property of the natural or legal person(s) that held an interest in them at the time of the freezing and may continue to be administered by third parties, or through other arrangements established by such natural or legal person(s) prior to the initiation of an action under a freezing mechanism, or in accordance with other national provisions. As part of the implementation of a freeze, countries may decide to take control of the property, equipment, instrumentalities, or funds or other assets as a means to protect against flight. |
Fundamental principles of domestic law | This refers to the basic legal principles upon which national legal systems are based and which provide a framework within which national laws are made and powers are exercised. These fundamental principles are normally contained or expressed within a national Constitution or similar document, or through decisions of the highest level of court having the power to make binding interpretations or determinations of national law. Although it will vary from country to country, some examples of such fundamental principles include rights of due process, the presumption of innocence, and a person’s right to effective protection by the courts. |
Funds | The term funds refers to assets of every kind, whether corporeal or incorporeal, tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, however acquired, and legal documents or instruments in any form, including electronic or digital, evidencing title to, or interest in, such assets. |
Funds or other assets | The term funds or other assets means any assets, including, but not limited to, financial assets, economic resources (including oil and other natural resources), property of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, however acquired, and legal documents or instruments in any form, including electronic or digital, evidencing title to, or interest in, such funds or other assets, including, but not limited to, bank credits, travellers cheques, bank cheques, money orders, shares, securities, bonds, drafts, or letters of credit, and any interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by such funds or other assets, and any other assets which potentially may be used to obtain funds, goods, or services. |
Identification data | The term identification data refers to reliable, independent source documents, data or information. |
Intermediary financial institution | Refers to a financial institution in a serial or cover payment chain that receives and transmits a wire transfer on behalf of the ordering financial institution and the beneficiary financial institution, or another intermediary financial institution. |
International organisations | International organisations are entities established by formal political agreements between their member States that have the status of international treaties; their existence is recognised by law in their member countries; and they are not treated as resident institutional units of the countries in which they are located. Examples of international organisations include the United Nations and affiliated international organisations such as the International Maritime Organisation; regional international organisations such as the Council of Europe, institutions of the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe and the Organization of American States; military international organisations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and economic organisations such as the World Trade Organisation or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, etc. |
Law | In Recommendations 10, 11 and 20, the term “law” refers to any legislation issued or approved through a Parliamentary process or other equivalent means provided for under the country’s constitutional framework, which imposes mandatory requirements with sanctions for non-compliance. The sanctions for non-compliance should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (see Recommendation 35). The notion of law also encompasses judicial decisions that impose relevant requirements, and which are binding and authoritative in all parts of the country. |
Legal arrangements | Legal arrangements refers to express trusts or other similar legal arrangements. Examples of other similar arrangements (for AML/CFT purposes) include fiducie, treuhand and fideicomiso. |
Legal persons | Legal persons efers to any entities other than natural persons that can establish a permanent customer relationship with a financial institution or otherwise own property. This can include companies, bodies corporate, foundations, anstalt, partnerships, or associations and other relevantly similar entities. |
Money laundering offence | References (except in Recommendation 3) to a money laundering offence refer not only to the primary offence or offences, but also to ancillary offences. |
Money or value transfer service | Money or value transfer services (MVTS) refers to financial services that involve the acceptance of cash, cheques, other monetary instruments or other stores of value and the payment of a corresponding sum in cash or other form to a beneficiary by means of a communication, message, transfer, or through a clearing network to which the MVTS provider belongs. Transactions performed by such services can involve one or more intermediaries and a final payment to a third party, and may include any new payment methods. Sometimes these services have ties to particular geographic regions and are described using a variety of specific terms, including hawala, hundi, and fei-chen. |
Non-conviction based confiscation | Non-conviction based confiscation means confiscation through judicial procedures related to a criminal offence for which a criminal conviction is not required. |
Nominator | Nominator is an individual (or group of individuals) or legal person that issues instructions (directly or indirectly) to a nominee to act on their behalf in the capacity of a director or a shareholder, also sometimes referred to as a “shadow director” or “silent partner”. |
Nominee shareholder or director | Nominee is an individual or legal person instructed by another individual or legal person (“the nominator”) to act on their behalf in a certain capacity regarding a legal person. A Nominee Director (also known as a “resident director”) is an individual or legal entity that routinely exercises the functions of the director in the company on behalf of and subject to the direct or indirect instructions of the nominator. A Nominee Director is never the beneficial owner of a legal person. A Nominee Shareholder exercises the associated voting rights according to the instructions of the nominator and/or receives dividends on behalf of the nominator. A nominee shareholder is never the beneficial owner of a legal person based on the shares it holds as a nominee. |
Non-profit organisation or NPO |
For the purposes of Recommendation 8, refers to a legal person or arrangement or organisation that primarily engages in raising or disbursing funds for purposes such as charitable, religious, cultural, educational, social or fraternal purposes, or for the carrying out of other types of “good works”. |
Ordering financial institution | Refers to the financial institution which initiates the wire transfer and transfers the funds upon receiving the request for an wire transfer on behalf of the originator. |
Originator | Refers to the account holder who allows the wire transfer from that account, or where there is no account, the natural or legal person that places the order with the ordering financial institution to perform the wire transfer. |
Payable-through accounts | Refers to correspondent accounts that are used directly by third parties to transact business on their own behalf. |
Physical crossborder transportation | Refers to any in-bound or out-bound physical transportation of currency or BNIs from one country to another country. The term includes the following modes of transportation: (1) physical transportation by a natural person, or in that person’s accompanying luggage or vehicle; (2) shipment of currency or BNIs through containerised cargo or (3) the mailing of currency or BNIs by a natural or legal person. |
Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) | Foreign PEPs are individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country, for example Heads of State or of government, senior politicians, senior government, judicial or military officials, senior executives of state owned corporations, important political party officials. Domestic PEPs are individuals who are or have been entrusted domestically with prominent public functions, for example Heads of State or of government, senior politicians, senior government, judicial or military officials, senior executives of state owned corporations, important political party officials. Persons who are or have been entrusted with a prominent function by an international organisation refers to members of senior management, i.e. directors, deputy directors and members of the board or equivalent functions. The definition of PEPs is not intended to cover middle ranking or more junior individuals in the foregoing categories. |
Proceeds | Proceeds refers to any property derived from or obtained, directly or indirectly, through the commission of an offence. |
Property | Property means assets of every kind, whether corporeal or incorporeal, moveable or immoveable, tangible or intangible, and legal documents or instruments evidencing title to, or interest in such assets. |
Qualifying wire transfers | Means a cross-border wire transfer above any applicable threshold as described in paragraph 5 of the Interpretive Note to Recommendation 16 as follows: “Countries may adopt a de minimis threshold for cross-border wire transfers (no higher than USD/EUR 1,000), below which the following requirements should apply:
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Reasonable measures | The term Reasonable Measures means: appropriate measures which are commensurate with the money laundering or terrorist financing risks. |
Related to terrorist financing or money laundering | When used to describe currency or BNIs, refers to currency or BNIs that are: (i) the proceeds of, or used in, or intended or allocated for use in, the financing of terrorism, terrorist acts or terrorist organisations; or (ii) laundered, proceeds from money laundering or predicate offences, or instrumentalities used in or intended for use in the commission of these offences. |
Required | Is used to describe a situation in which all elements of required information are present. Subparagraphs 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c) set out the required originator information. Subparagraphs 6(d) and 6(e) set out the required beneficiary information. |
Risk | All references to risk refer to the risk of money laundering and/or terrorist financing. This term should be read in conjunction with the Interpretive Note to Recommendation 1. |
Satisfied | Where reference is made to a financial institution being satisfied as to a matter, that institution must be able to justify its assessment to competent authorities. |
Seize | The term seize means to prohibit the transfer, conversion, disposition or movement of property on the basis of an action initiated by a competent authority or a court under a freezing mechanism. However, unlike a freezing action, a seizure is effected by a mechanism that allows the competent authority or court to take control of specified property. The seized property remains the property of the natural or legal person(s) that holds an interest in the specified property at the time of the seizure, although the competent authority or court will often take over possession, administration or management of the seized property. |
Self-regulatory body (SRB) | A SRB is a body that represents a profession (e.g. lawyers, notaries, other independent legal professionals or accountants), and which is made up of members from the profession, has a role in regulating the persons that are qualified to enter and who practise in the profession, and also performs certain supervisory or monitoring type functions. Such bodies should enforce rules to ensure that high ethical and moral standards are maintained by those practising the profession. |
Serial Payment | Refers to a direct sequential chain of payment where the wire transfer and accompanying payment message travel together from the ordering financial institution to the beneficiary financial institution directly or through one or more intermediary financial institutions (e.g., correspondent banks). |
Settlor | Settlors are natural or legal persons who transfer ownership of their assets to trustees by means of a trust deed or similar arrangement. |
Shell bank | Shell bank means a bank that has no physical presence in the country in which it
is incorporated and licensed, and which is unaffiliated with a regulated financial
group that is subject to effective consolidated supervision.
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Should | For the purposes of assessing compliance with the FATF Recommendations, the word should has the same meaning as must. |
Straight-through processing | Refers to payment transactions that are conducted electronically without the need for manual intervention. |
Supervisors | Supervisors refers to the designated competent authorities or non-public bodies with responsibilities aimed at ensuring compliance by financial institutions (“financial supervisors” *Including Core Principles supervisors who carry out supervisory functions that are related to the implementation of the FATF Recommendations.) and/or DNFBPs with requirements to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Non-public bodies (which could include certain types of SRBs*For the purposes of the effectiveness assessment, "supervisors" includes SRBs.) should have the power to supervise and sanction financial institutions or DNFBPs in relation to the AML/CFT requirements. These nonpublic bodies should also be empowered by law to exercise the functions they perform, and be supervised by a competent authority in relation to such functions. |
Targeted financial sanctions | The term targeted financial sanctions means both asset freezing and prohibitions to prevent funds or other assets from being made available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of designated persons and entities. |
Terrorist | The term terrorist refers to any natural person who: (i) commits, or attempts to commit, terrorist acts by any means, directly or indirectly, unlawfully and wilfully; (ii) participates as an accomplice in terrorist acts ; (iii) organises or directs others to commit terrorist acts ; or (iv) contributes to the commission of terrorist acts by a group of persons acting with a common purpose where the contribution is made intentionally and with the aim of furthering the terrorist act or with the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit a terrorist act. |
Terrorist act | A terrorist act includes:
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Terrorist financing abuse | For the purposes of Recommendation 8, refers to the exploitation by terrorists and terrorist organisations of NPOs to raise or move funds, provide logistical support, encourage or facilitate terrorist recruitment, or otherwise support terrorists or terrorist organisations and operations. |
Terrorist financing offence | References (except in Recommendation 4) to a terrorist financing offence refer not only to the primary offence or offences, but also to ancillary offences. |
Terrorist organisation | The term terrorist organisation refers to any group of terrorists that: (i) commits, or attempts to commit, terrorist acts by any means, directly or indirectly, unlawfully and wilfully; (ii) participates as an accomplice in terrorist acts; (iii) organises or directs others to commit terrorist acts; or (iv) contributes to the commission of terrorist acts by a group of persons acting with a common purpose where the contribution is made intentionally and with the aim of furthering the terrorist act or with the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit a terrorist act. |
Third parties | For the purposes of Recommendations 6 and 7, the term third parties includes, but is not limited to, financial institutions and DNFBPs. Please also refer to the IN to Recommendation 17. |
Trustee | The terms trust and trustee should be understood as described in and consistent
with Article 2 of the Hague Convention on the law applicable to trusts and their
recognition*Article 2 of the Hague Convention reads as follows: |
Unique transaction reference number | Refers to a combination of letters, numbers or symbols, determined by the payment service provider, in accordance with the protocols of the payment and settlement system or messaging system used for the wire transfer. |
Virtual asset service provider | Virtual asset service provider means any natural or legal person who is not covered elsewhere under the Recommendations, and as a business conducts one or more of the following activities or operations for or on behalf of another natural or legal person:
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Virtual asset | A virtual asset is a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded, or transferred, and can be used for payment or investment purposes. Virtual assets do not include digital representations of fiat currencies, securities and other financial assets that are already covered elsewhere in the FATF Recommendations. |
Wire Transfer | For the purposes of Recommendation 16, refers to any transaction carried out on behalf of an originator through a financial institution by electronic means with a view to making an amount of funds available to a beneficiary person at a beneficiary financial institution, irrespective of whether the originator and the beneficiary are the same person.*It is understood that the settlement of wire transfers may happen under a net settlement arrangement. This interpretive note refers to information which must be included in instructions sent from an originating financial institution to a beneficiary financial institution, including through any intermediary financial institution, to enable disbursement of the funds to the recipient. Any net settlement between the financial institutions may be exempt under paragraph 4(b) |
Without delay | The phrase without delay means, ideally, within a matter of hours of a designation by the United Nations Security Council or its relevant Sanctions Committee (e.g. the 1267 Committee, the 1988 Committee, the 1718 Sanctions Committee). For the purposes of S/RES/1373(2001), the phrase without delay means upon having reasonable grounds, or a reasonable basis, to suspect or believe that a person or entity is a terrorist, one who finances terrorism or a terrorist organization. In both cases, the phrase without delay should be interpreted in the context of the need to prevent the flight or dissipation of funds or other assets which are linked to terrorists, terrorist organizations, those who finance terrorism, and to the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the need for global, concerted action to interdict and disrupt their flow swiftly. |