The United Kingdom has taken over the global body that assesses how Bermuda and other countries tackle key financial crimes.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

It researches how money is laundered and terrorism is funded, sets and promotes global standards to mitigate risks, and assesses whether countries are taking effective action.

Bermuda’s next assessment — its 5th Round Mutual Evaluation by the group’s regional, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) is scheduled to begin in October.

The UK was scheduled to begin its presidency today for an organisation committed to focus international efforts on collaboration and partnerships to fight crime and combat the global fraud epidemic.

The new FATF president, Giles Thomson, has set out to strengthen the FATF’s efforts to tackle the financial flows that fuel crime, terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and to support safer, more resilient and more inclusive economies.

His speech tonight launches the FATF’s Roadmap 26-28 on Combating Fraud, the FATF’s “global response to the fraud epidemic”.

The task force said: “With nearly 90 per cent of assessments in the FATF’s previous round of mutual evaluations identifying fraud as a major proceeds-generating offence, the UK presidency will work to strengthen the global use of the FATF toolkit, which provides countries with measures to combat fraud, including freezing and seizing assets, suspending fraudulent transactions, and enhancing cross-border intelligence sharing.

“On the first day of the UK Presidency, the FATF is bringing together key partners and stakeholders to officially launch its 2026-2028 Roadmap on Combatting Fraud.

“Fraud is identified as the most significant and rapidly growing source of illicit finance globally, increasingly enabled by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual assets and online platforms, and driven by transnational organised criminal groups operating at scale.

“With an estimated nearly $500 billion lost to scams in 2024-2025, the FATF will also examine the financial flows around scam compounds and transnational criminal organisations committing fraud.”

FATF president Giles Thomson said: “Fraudsters and other criminals are scaling at speed by exploiting technological innovations, often targeting the most vulnerable in society, with severe and often life-threatening consequences. To keep our citizens safe around the world and protect economic growth, we need to match their pace with a united front across sectors and borders.”

The FATF said it will also focus on strengthening implementation of the risk-based approach to fighting financial crime and risk-based supervision.

It will also work to enhance public-private, cross-border and private-to-private information sharing.

Also of focus will be the FATF’s Strategic Priorities for 2026-2028, as agreed by FATF Ministers in April 2026, with a focus on the successful delivery of the new round of evaluations against FATF standards that hold countries to account and drive tangible reforms in assessed countries.

The FATF is famously known for its Black List, naming jurisdictions they say have weak measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

As of June 19, Iran, Myanmar and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are the blacklisted countries.

There are 22 grey-listed countries.

The CFATF is chaired by the Attorney General of Barbados, until November’s 63rd CFATF Plenary in the Turks and Caicos Islands, when the AG of that country takes over for a year. The Secretariat is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.