If we have a prince said Pliny to Trajan, it is so that he may preserve us from having a master
In jean-jacques rousseau, Second Discourse, 1753
This book is based on my doctoral (DPhil) dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong in 2023 which has been updated, revised and improved.
In this process, I would like to express my gratitude to the Dissertation Committee, especially Professor Michelle Gallant for her valuable contribution and words of encouragement and to my outstanding supervisor Professor Simon Young.
This book addresses an important and recognised organisation – the Financial Action Task Force (fatf), the world’s leading organisation responsible for the integrity, security, transparency of the international financial system, via international standards to counter money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation financing of weapons of mass destruction, and its legal position in the international legal system.
I first became aware of the fatf in 1999, during the Portugal’s presidency of the organisation. For the past two decades, I have been following its activities and those of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering. As a legal counsel in international law, I have witnessed the gradual metamorphosis from a specialised technical body into a complex and multi-layered organisation, whose legitimacy is undermined by the lack of clarity regarding its legal standing.
I became intrigued with the organisation’s scope and far-reaching impact of its policies and measures to respond to global trends and threats that pose a risk to the international financial system, as well as how members, non-members, ios and other international actors have accepted and implemented them, without close scrutiny (checks and balances) and questioning its legal status.
In this regard, a word of deep appreciation to Mr. Gil Galvão, President of the fatf in 1999–2000 and, for many years, head of delegation of Portugal to the fatf, to Mr. Duarte Chagas, senior legal counsel of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region and to Professor Simon Young for their expertise, wisdom and insightful comments.
The topic may be of interest in the fields of Public International Law, Law of International Organisations or International Institutional Law, International Economic Law, International Relations, and to a potential audience of policy-decision makers, scholars, legal practitioners, lawyers, regulators, and students.