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The impact of anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regulations on civic space and human rights

Civic space and human rights have been under assault across the world, and, in some settings, regulations related to anti-money laundering and/or combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) have played a major role in legitimising and providing justification for these measures at the domestic level. The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) law and policymaking processes do not provide any meaningful transparency or opportunities for civil society engagement, neither at the domestic, nor at the international level. With little input from human rights organisations and experts, the “counter-risks” of abuse and misappropriation for AML/CFT regulations only increase. Measures taken under the guise of AML/CFT regulations include heavy restrictions on civil society organisations’ (CSOs) ability to register, operate, and access resources, as well as direct measures against specific CSOs, such as audits, investigations, prosecution, de-registration, closure and expulsion.

15 April 2021
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The impact of anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regulations on civic space and human rights

Main points

  • Civic space restrictions and human rights violations have only grown since 2001, and AML/CFT laws and regulations have often caused or been used to justify them.
  • FATF’s law and policymaking processes are not transparent and do not allow for meaningful civil society participation, which severely limits human rights inputs.
  • The negative impacts of AML/CFT regulation on civil society organisations compromise FATF’s very goal of preventing and countering terrorism and money laundering.
  • Measures taken under the guise of AML/CFT regulations include heavy restrictions on CSOs’ ability to register, operate and access resources, as well as direct measures against specific CSOs, such as audits, investigations, prosecution, de-registration, closure and expulsion.
  • De-risking and restrictions to foreign donations are two of the bigger issues CSOs currently face.

Cite this publication


France, G. (2021) The impact of anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regulations on civic space and human rights. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2021:8)

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Guilherme France

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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