Offenders seek to involve legal professionals in their ML/TF activities, sometimes because a lawyer is required for certain transactions, and sometimes to access specialized legal and notarial expertise and services that could support money laundering and terrorist financing. In October 2008, the FATF adopted guidelines on the risk-based approach (RBA) to combating money laundering and terrorist financing for legal professionals. This guide has been prepared by the FATF in close consultation with representatives of the legal profession and the notary. This guide supports the development of a common understanding of what the RBA entails, outlines high-level principles for the application of the RBA, and describes best practices for governments and legal professionals in designing and implementing an effective RBA. In addition to financial institutions, the FATF recommendations also cover a number of designated non-financial companies and professions (DNFBPs). At its June 2007 meeting, the FATF Working Group on Assessment and Implementation (WGEI) approved a proposal to convene a meeting of representatives of DNFBPs to explore the possibility of developing guidelines for the risk-based approach for their sectors, using the same structure and style as the comprehensive guidelines for financial institutions. EAEC continued its work until these guidelines for legal professionals were submitted to the WGEI. Following further international consultations with the public and private sectors, the FATF adopted the guidelines at its October 2008 plenary session. Guidelines for each of the other areas of the DNFBP will be published separately. Purpose of the Guidance This APG/FATF report examines casinos with a physical presence, online gambling and illegal gambling outside the scope of this study. The vulnerability of casinos to money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) was recognized in the revision of the FATF-40 recommendations, with significantly increased obligations for casinos. However, it still lacked the recent regional or global identification of ML/TF threats to casinos and gambling, which this report aims to address.
In June 2007, the FATF adopted Guidelines on the Risk-Based Approach to Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: High-Level Principles and Procedures, which include guidelines for public authorities and guidelines for financial institutions. This was the culmination of extensive consultation between private and public sector members of an electronic advisory group (EAG) set up by the FATF. The report identifies a number of ML/TF methods that typically use the services of a lawyer or need it in certain countries. These activities inherently present an ML/TF risk. When clients attempt to abuse the services of the lawyer in these areas, even law-abiding lawyers can be vulnerable. The methods are as follows: The report addresses vulnerabilities due to shortcomings in the implementation of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures at the national level and examines a number of policy implications. It identifies significant ML vulnerabilities and related case studies and typologies, but does not identify cases of money laundering by the sector. The report also outlines anti-money laundering indicators that may be useful to legal professionals, self-regulatory organizations (SRBs), competent authorities and law enforcement agencies. This report reviewed more than 100 case studies related to these and other ML/TF methods. Some of these case studies show that not all lawyers conduct client due diligence (CDD) when required.
Even if due diligence is obtained and the lawyer does not understand ML/TF vulnerabilities and red alert indicators, they are less able to use this information to prevent misuse of their services. The report also challenges the view, sometimes held by criminals and sometimes supported by allegations by legal professionals themselves, that solicitor-client privilege would legally allow a lawyer to continue to act on behalf of a client involved in criminal activities and/or prevent law enforcement authorities from accessing information; so that the customer can be sued. Also available in: Spanish – Translation provided by GAFILAT with the support of Costa Rica: GAFILAT Spanish Guide to Risk-Based Approach for Lawyers Russian – Translation provided by the International Training and Methodology Center: РУКОВОДСТВО ПО ПРИМЕНЕНИЮ РИСК-ОРИЕНТИРОВАННОГО ПОДХОДА Risk-Based Approach Guide for Legal Professionals Overall, there are significant global casino businesses that require a lot of money, competitive in their growth and are susceptible to criminal exploitation. This document identifies:.
