David Lewis, the executive secretary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was reported to have resigned his position.
According to various reports, this raised questions about the ability of the intergovernmental group’s secretariat to operate independently.
David Lewis, who has served as the global anti-money laundering standard setter’s most senior official since November 2015, informed staff that he was stepping down after six years in the role despite the unanimous agreement by members to renew his three-year contract for a second time. This was confirmed through a letter obtained by ACAMS moneylaundering.com, and which was sent on September 25th.
A FATF spokesperson confirmed Lewis’ resignation in an email to moneylaundering.com, but otherwise declined to comment.
“The staff of the FATF secretariat, including the executive secretary, are OECD officials,” the spokesperson said. “This is therefore an internal matter for the FATF and the OECD.”
Lewis did not elaborate on the unexpected proposal to readvertise his position as head of FATF’s secretariat or identify who or which party within FATF was involved, but in a potentially troubling development, appeared to suggest towards the end of his letter that improper influence may have played a role.
“Unfortunately, this last renewal process involved a prolonged period of uncertainty, exasperated by a proposal out of the blue to introduce a new requirement that the role be readvertised, regardless of my performance” “I hope my successor will be selected as I was, and all secretariat staff are—on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition,” Lewis wrote in the letter. “I urge you to protect the secretariat and its professional status … so that they can continue to protect and serve you, the FATF, without fear or favor.”
FATF’s secretariat, based at the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, in Paris, consists of dozens of analysts and other staff who develop global anti-money laundering standards, analyze emerging financial-crime threats and oversee the group’s processes for evaluating national anti-money laundering frameworks.
FATF is publicly represented through a rotating presidency, a position currently held by Marcus Pleyer, deputy director general of the German Finance Ministry.
Of course FATF is a powerful organisation whose assessments on the robustness of a nation’s financial system to withstand financial crime and money laundering can have profound and in some cases long lasting effects. This means the agency is not endeared amongst some world leaders and financial institutions.
Germany is currently undergoing assessment – after a turbulent period for the country, including the Wirecard scandal and collapse, as well as persistent attacks on the credibility of financial watchdog BaFin and the FIU. Moreover, the recent general election saw police raid the finance ministry over allegations of not passing on information around money laundering suspicions.
The group permanently expanded the presidency’s term from one year to two years in April 2019. Germany became the first nation to lead FATF for a two-year term in July of last year.
Just last summer EU member Malta was relegated to FATF’s “Grey List” in a major embarrassment for the island. Greylisting is seen as an opportunity for a country to get its act together and use the listing period to introduce more effective financial risk and compliance processes.
