A/HRC/28/60 five years, during which lower-income countries would receive tax information automatically, without a requirement for full reciprocity. That would allow time for domestic systems to be modified and improved, while demonstrating the value of participating in information exchange. 57. OECD has named combating illicit financial flows one of its three priority areas in its Strategy on Development (2012). In 2014, OECD published a report entitled “Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: Measuring OECD Responses”, which analyses the performance of OECD countries against the main international standards for countering illicit financial flows. It focuses on five policy areas: money-laundering, tax evasion, foreign bribery, asset recovery and the role of development agencies. Another OECD publication – Better Policies for Development 2014: Policy Coherence and Illicit Financial Flows stresses the need for policy coherence to address illicit financial flows. The OECD analysis shows that countries are making progress in the fight against illicit financial flows, but warns that “without action, OECD countries are at risk of becoming safe havens for illicit assets from developing countries” (p. 22). 58. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has become an international policymaking body in the fight against money-laundering. FATF has developed a series of recommendations that are recognized as the international standard for combating moneylaundering and the financing of terrorism, and conducts peer reviews of each member on an ongoing basis to assess their implementation. In February 2012, FATF adopted a new set of recommendations which will provide an opportunity to ensure that national legislation makes it more difficult to hide illicit money in secrecy jurisdictions. In October 2013 new FATF guidance on the due diligence requirements in relation to politically exposed persons was published, followed in 2014 by guidance on transparency and beneficial ownership to deter and prevent the misuse of corporate vehicles for money-laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion or other illicit activities. 59. At the regional level in Africa, the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa have been combating the flow of illicit funds. The High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows was established in February 2012 to address the debilitating problem of illicit financial outflows from Africa. The Panel has carried out consultations, country visits and studies in six African countries. In its progress report, the Panel found “that in some African countries, the institutional architecture for responding to illicit financial flows was at best uneven or, as in several key instances, non-existent. Lack of transparency, secrecy and the difficulty of obtaining information and systematic data remain key challenges across the board” (E/ECA/CM/47/6, para. 20).46 60. In February 2013, the European Commission published proposals to amend the Anti-Money-Laundering Directive, clarifying the definition of “beneficial ownership” and providing more detail on customer due diligence requirements. 47 The new directive will for the first time oblige European Union member States to maintain central registers listing information on the ultimate beneficial owners of corporate and other legal entities, and trusts. The registers will not be public, but accessible to competent authorities and financial 46 47 The final report of the High-Level Panel was released on 31 January 2015 after the present study was submitted by the Independent Expert for editing. It will be duly considered in the final study of the Independent Expert. See “Illicit Financial Flows: Report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa” commissioned by the AU/ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, available from www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/publications/iff_main_report_english.pdf Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing, COM(2013)45. 19