WFDB becomes a FATF member

The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has been admitted as a member to The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) consultative forum. This was announced by the FATF following a Plenary Meeting of the organisation in mid-June, during which the WFDB's merits for membership were discussed.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body formed to develop and promote national and international policies, and thus combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The body works to generate the necessary political will to bring about significant legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.

WFDB President Avi Paz said that becoming a member to the FATF well explained the WFDB's ever growing influence and role. "As the diamond industry's leading supervisory body, it is only logical that the WFDB has had a decisive influence on the draft guidelines on precious stones and precious metals, as adopted by FATF". In a letter to Michael Vaughan, the WFDB's Secretary General and Executive Director, FATF President Sir James Sassoon wrote that the very close interaction between FATF and members of the diamond and precious metals industry had contributed significantly towards developing guidance on the risk-base approach for the precious stones and precious metals industries.

The draft guidelines for the precious metals and precious stones are soon to be published on the FATF website.