Rick McDonell and the Financial Action Task Force

In this segment of AML Now, John J. Byrne, ACAMS executive vice president, spoke with Rick McDonell about his time at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the importance of FATF today.

McDonell is currently the executive director for ACAMS and a member of the ACAMS Advisory Board. McDonell has many years of direct experience working with regional bodies, which gives him a unique global perspective on anti-money laundering and financial crime challenges.

McDonell was the executive secretary of FATF since 2007. Under his leadership, FATF developed a new standardized country assessment methodology and the FATF Global Network expanded to nine FATF-styled regional bodies. Prior to this role, he worked for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime where he was chief of the U.N. Global Programme on Money Laundering. Previously, McDonell established the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering and became its first executive secretary.

In addition, he is a lawyer by training and has had extensive experience as a federal prosecutor and in conducting complex investigations, including being in charge of many multidisciplinary investigation task forces into organized crime cases both nationally and internationally. He also has had experience in private legal practice and as a university lecturer.

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