Giles Thomson, the new President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has unveiled a multi-year roadmap to confront what he described as a global fraud epidemic costing $500 billion each year. Thomson outlined the plan in his inaugural speech on July 1, 2026, the first day of his two-year term leading the international anti-money laundering (AML) watchdog under the UK presidency.
The announcement signals that fraud, long treated as a secondary concern behind money laundering and terrorist financing, is now a central FATF priority. For compliance teams at banks, credit unions, fintechs, and payment providers, the roadmap previews new typologies, best practice guidance, and potential changes to how the FATF applies its existing standards.
Key Highlights
- FATF President Giles Thomson announced the fraud roadmap on July 1, 2026, at the start of the UK’s two-year FATF presidency.
- Fraud costs an estimated $500 billion globally each year, according to Thomson.
- Fraud was the predominant predicate offense in 90% of FATF mutual evaluations in the last round.
- The FATF will gather fraud typologies from banks, regulators, and policymakers through October 2026, with a particular focus on scam compounds.
- Recommendations are expected by February 2027, followed by an implementation phase running to June 2028.
- A “Global Response Against Fraud” event is planned for spring 2027, supported by a new private sector consultative group.
A Two-Stage Action Plan on Fraud
The FATF roadmap on combatting fraud will unfold in two stages. In the first, running through October 2026, the FATF will collect detailed information on fraud typologies from banks, regulators, and policymakers. Thomson said the body will place a particular focus on scam compounds, the industrial-scale operations behind much of the world’s romance fraud, investment scams, and pig butchering schemes.
The second stage moves from evidence gathering to action. “We will very quickly then move on in a second stage, to look at what is working well, best practices, and how we can scale those,” Thomson said. He expects the FATF to publish recommendations by February 2027 on “where the FATF can go further” using its existing toolkit.
| Phase | Timeline | Focus |
| Stage 1 | July to October 2026 | Gather fraud typologies, with emphasis on scam compounds |
| Stage 2 | Through February 2027 | Identify and scale best practices; publish recommendations |
| Implementation | February 2027 to June 2028 | Put recommendations into practice across the global network |
The FATF will also form a private sector consultative group to guide the project team, and plans to host a major “Global Response Against Fraud” event in spring 2027, building on the UNODC-INTERPOL Global Fraud Summit.
Why the FATF Is Prioritizing Fraud
The numbers behind the announcement explain the urgency. “The scale of the threat from fraud costs $500 billion a year across the world,” Thomson said. He added that fraud was “the predominant predicate offense in 90% of the FATF mutual evaluations done across the global network in our last round.”
Thomson, who serves as Director for Economic Crime and Sanctions at HM Treasury, was measured about what the watchdog can achieve alone. “We recognize that the FATF is not going to be the entire solution at a global level. But we think we can be a much bigger part of the solution through the global network that we have,” he said.
What the Roadmap Means for Compliance Teams
Financial institutions should expect fraud to feature more prominently in supervisory expectations as the roadmap progresses. Three practical implications stand out:
- Typology requests are coming. The FATF will ask banks and regulators for detailed fraud typologies before October 2026. Institutions with strong case management records will be better positioned to contribute and to benchmark against the findings.
- Scam-related transaction patterns will face scrutiny. With scam compounds a stated focus, transaction monitoring rules tuned to mule activity, rapid pass-through payments, and cross-border scam flows will matter more.
- Fraud and AML convergence will accelerate. The roadmap treats fraud as a predicate offense within the AML framework, reinforcing the case for unified fraud management and AML programs rather than siloed functions.
Preparing for the FATF’s Fraud Agenda
The FATF fraud roadmap sets a clear timeline: evidence gathering through October 2026, recommendations by February 2027, and implementation through June 2028. Institutions that document fraud typologies now, tune their monitoring for scam-driven activity, and integrate fraud and AML operations will be ahead of the supervisory expectations this agenda is likely to produce. The $500 billion figure makes one thing plain: regulators view fraud as a systemic financial crime threat, and compliance programs will be expected to treat it that way.
