40 FATF 40 Recommendations
4

Recommendation 4 · Group B · Money Laundering & Confiscation

Former: R.3

Confiscation & provisional measures

Recommendation 4 requires every country to give its competent authorities the legal powers to identify, trace, freeze, seize and confiscate criminal property — including property of corresponding value, instruments used in offences, and laundered property. Countries must also have policies that prioritise asset recovery domestically and internationally, and consider non-conviction-based confiscation where appropriate.

Who must comply?

  • Asset recovery offices and financial investigators
  • Public prosecutors and courts
  • Police and customs
  • Mutual legal assistance authorities

Key requirements

  1. 1

    Powers to identify, trace and evaluate criminal property

    Authorities must have legislative powers to identify, trace and evaluate property that is, or may become, subject to confiscation, including criminal proceeds and property of corresponding value.

  2. 2

    Provisional measures (freezing and seizing)

    Authorities must be able to expeditiously freeze or seize property to prevent its dealing, transfer or disposal — typically without prior notice to the affected party.

  3. 3

    Conviction-based confiscation

    Confiscation must be available as a sanction following conviction for ML, terrorist financing or any predicate offence.

  4. 4

    Non-conviction-based confiscation

    Countries should consider adopting measures that allow confiscation without a criminal conviction, or that require an offender to demonstrate the lawful origin of the property — particularly useful when the offender has died, fled, or cannot be prosecuted.

  5. 5

    Prevent or void acts that prejudice authorities

    The legal framework must allow authorities to prevent or void contracts and other legal acts where the parties knew (or should have known) the contract would prejudice the State's ability to recover criminal property.

  6. 6

    Effective management of assets

    Countries must have mechanisms for managing frozen, seized and confiscated property — preserving its value, paying necessary maintenance costs, and disposing of it efficiently.

  7. 7

    Asset recovery as policy priority

    Countries must adopt policies and frameworks that prioritise asset recovery in both domestic and international contexts, including sharing of confiscated assets with cooperating countries.

Practical example

Example: Mexico's extinción de dominio framework

Mexico's Ley Nacional de Extinción de Dominio (2019) is a landmark non-conviction-based confiscation tool. Properties used in or derived from crimes such as money laundering, organised crime, kidnapping, drug trafficking and corruption can be subject to civil-action proceedings independent of any criminal trial. The burden shifts to the property holder to demonstrate lawful origin. Recovered assets fund victims' compensation, security agencies and social programmes — exactly the asset-recovery priority that Recommendation 4 demands.

How Mexico implements it

Country-specific section in Spanish — Mexican regulatory references (LFPIORPI, CNBV, SAT, UIF).

México cuenta con un marco robusto de decomiso y recuperación de activos:

Código Penal Federal — Decomiso por condena

El Art. 24 Fr. 8 del CPF y el Art. 40 establecen el decomiso como pena, ejecutable cuando se condena por LD, narcotráfico o delitos similares. El producto del delito y los instrumentos pasan al Estado.

Ley Nacional de Extinción de Dominio (2019)

Procedimiento civil autónomo del proceso penal. Cubre bienes vinculados a LD (Art. 400 Bis CPF), delincuencia organizada, narcotráfico, corrupción, trata, secuestro, robo de hidrocarburos y otros delitos enlistados.

Indep — Instituto para Devolver al Pueblo lo Robado

Organismo encargado de administrar los bienes asegurados y decomisados. Vende, subasta o transfiere bienes para destinarlos a programas sociales, víctimas y agencias de seguridad.

Cooperación internacional para recuperación

México tiene tratados bilaterales y multilaterales que permiten compartir activos recuperados con países que cooperaron en la investigación. La FGR coordina solicitudes vía Recomendación 38 (asistencia legal mutua: congelamiento y decomiso).

Milestones

  1. 1988

    Vienna Convention introduces confiscation framework

  2. 2003

    Original Recommendation 3 on confiscation

  3. 2012

    Renumbered as Recommendation 4 with explicit non-conviction-based option

  4. 2024

    Major update emphasises asset recovery as a national priority

  5. 2025

    October 2025 update strengthens international asset-sharing standards

Related Recommendations

Other Recommendations in Group B — Money Laundering & Confiscation

3 R.3 Money laundering offence

Official citation

FATF (2012-2025), International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation, Recommendation 4, FATF, Paris, France. Last updated October 2025.

Read the official text on fatf-gafi.org