Back

Publication of the Risk-based Approach Guidance for Legal Professionals - UINL Contributions

News

Publication of the Risk-based Approach Guidance for Legal Professionals - UINL Contributions

23/07/2019

On July 8, 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published the "Risk-based Approach Guidance for Legal Professionals

The UINL contributed to the update of this guide based on the FATF "Guidance on the Risk-Based Approach to Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing for Legal Professionals" issued in 2008.

---

Since the beginning of its presidency, José Marqueño de Llano set the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing as a priority.

In this regard, in October 2018, the General Assembly of Notariats Members of the UINL adopted the "Good practices on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing in the notarial sector".

This guide has been disseminated to the 88 Notariats Members of the UINL.

By reinforcing good practices in daily notarial activities, it serves the general interests, as notaries help to prevent money laundering and other criminal activities and to identify potentially suspicious transactions and real beneficiaries.

 

In addition, strong links were established with international organizations such as FATF, GAFILAT, OAS, the United Nations, IMF and the World Bank, and the UINL has in this context participated in numerous joint working groups.

Specifically, the UINL has been accepted since March 2018 in the Policy Development Working Group of the FATF, main agency in the field, which was preparing the risk-based approach guidance for legal professionals.

This guide is based on the "Guidance on the Risk-Based Approach to Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing for Legal Professionals" issued by the FATF in 2008 and the UINL contributed to many improvements in its update, notably:

- to the express distinction, within the category of "Legal Professionals", between lawyers and notaries, taking into account the differences in professional practice, the characteristics of the performance of each professional, the role of notaries as public officers and their obligation of impartiality, among others.

- to the incorporation of risk indicators specific to the notarial activity;

- to the provision of examples of vulnerabilities in the services provided by notaries.

The Guide was approved on July 8, 2019 during FATF plenary session and it has been sent to the 39 countries members, as well as to the associations members, such as the European Union. 

 

It also represents a great recognition of the money laundering prevention system used by the Spanish Notariat and its Beneficial Ownership Database, which is indicated as a model to follow. 

Thus, the General Council of Spanish Notariat emphasizes in its press release that “The Beneficial Ownership Database has identified the real beneficiaries, in an accredited manner for 86% of the cases, regarding more than 2,300,000 legal persons, companies but also associations, foundations and political parties.

 

Back

SEARCH NEWS

Press releases

Apply for the 3rd UINL Prize for Legal Research!

14 Feb 2024

REUNION CONJOINTE DU CONSEIL DE DIRECTION DES LEGI...

27 Feb 2023

Dr. Peter Stelmaszczyk is the new President of the...

24 Jan 2023