The  FATF  is  a  global  standards-setting body,  backed  by  the  political  commitment of  its  35  member  states  plus  two  regional  organisations. South Africa is the only African member. The FATF is made up of Argentina, Australia,  Austria,  Belgium,  Brazil,  Canada,  China,  Denmark,  the  European  Commission,  Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the gulf Co-operation Council, Hong Kong: China, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New  Zealand,  Norway,  Portugal,  the  Russian  Federation,  Singapore,  South  Africa,  Spain,  Sweden,  Switzerland,  Turkey,  the  United  Kingdom and the United States.

The FATF sets standards and promotes effective legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, the financing of terrorism and other threats to the international financial system.  More than 190 countries around the world subscribe to these standards. The FATF, together with a global network of regional assessment bodies, measures effective implementation of its standards through peer reviews. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank incorporate the results of these reviews in their own processes to determine the stability of a country’s financial sector.

South Africa, together with the Russian Federation, has been a member of the FATF since 2003.