40 FATF 40 Recommendations
30

Recommendation 30 · Group F · Powers of Competent Authorities

Former: R.27

Law enforcement responsibilities

Recommendation 30 requires every country to designate law enforcement and investigative authorities with responsibility for ML, associated predicate offences and TF investigations — with adequate resources, training and powers. Authorities must conduct parallel financial investigations alongside criminal investigations, and prioritise asset-tracing and recovery as a routine outcome.

Who must comply?

  • Federal and state police, federal prosecutors
  • Specialised AML/CFT and asset-recovery units
  • Customs and tax authorities with criminal-investigation powers
  • Anti-corruption agencies

Key requirements

  1. 1

    Designate responsible authorities

    Countries must designate law-enforcement and investigative authorities with explicit responsibility for ML, predicate offences and TF — with clear mandates and proper resources.

  2. 2

    Parallel financial investigations

    Authorities investigating predicate offences must run parallel financial investigations to identify, trace and recover criminal property — making this routine, not exceptional.

  3. 3

    Specialised units

    Where appropriate, countries should establish multi-disciplinary task forces and asset-recovery offices to handle complex ML/TF cases — combining police, prosecution, financial analysts, tax investigators and forensic accountants.

  4. 4

    Adequate resources and training

    Investigative authorities must have sufficient resources, equipment, technology and training to conduct effective investigations — including modern financial-investigation techniques and digital evidence handling.

  5. 5

    Cooperation with FIU and supervisors

    Law enforcement must cooperate effectively with the FIU, supervisors and other competent authorities — receiving and acting on intelligence, providing feedback, and aligning operational priorities.

  6. 6

    International dimension

    Authorities must be capable of seeking and providing international assistance through Recommendations 36-40 — mutual legal assistance, extradition and other forms of cooperation.

Practical example

Example: Mexican parallel investigation in a fraud case

Mexico's FGR investigates a corporate fraud. Under R.30, in parallel it opens a financial investigation: traces the funds through bank accounts, identifies real-estate purchases and offshore companies linked to the suspect, requests UIF intelligence on prior STRs, coordinates with the Indep for asset preservation, and requests freezing under the Ley Nacional de Extinción de Dominio. The criminal trial and the asset-recovery action proceed in parallel — not sequentially — maximising the probability of recovering the proceeds before they vanish.

How Mexico implements it

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

México distribuye facultades investigativas entre varias instituciones federales:

FGR — Fiscalía General de la República

Investiga delitos federales incluyendo lavado de dinero (Art. 400 Bis CPF), delincuencia organizada (LFCDO), narcotráfico, corrupción y financiamiento al terrorismo. Realiza investigaciones financieras paralelas en casi todos los casos.

UEAF — Unidad Especializada en Análisis Financiero

Unidad de la FGR especializada en investigación financiera, análisis patrimonial y rastreo de activos. Coopera con UIF para inteligencia y con el Indep para administración de bienes asegurados.

Indep — Administración de bienes

El Instituto para Devolver al Pueblo lo Robado administra bienes asegurados/decomisados, los preserva, vende, subasta o destina a programas sociales. Su existencia hace operativo el principio de la R.30 sobre recuperación rutinaria.

Coordinación con UIF y autoridades fiscales

La FGR coopera con la UIF (inteligencia), CNBV (supervisión sectorial) y SAT (autoridad fiscal con poderes investigativos administrativos). Casos complejos forman fuerzas de tarea multi-agencia.

Milestones

  1. 1990

    Original Recommendation 27 on law-enforcement responsibilities

  2. 2012

    Renumbered as Recommendation 30

  3. 2024

    Updated emphasis on parallel financial investigations and asset recovery

  4. 2025

    October 2025 update reinforces multi-agency cooperation expectations

Related Recommendations

Other Recommendations in Group F — Powers of Competent Authorities

26 R.26 Regulation of financial institutions 27 R.27 Powers of supervisors 28 R.28 Regulation of DNFBPs 29 R.29 Financial intelligence units (FIUs) 31 R.31 Law enforcement powers 32 R.32 Cash couriers 33 R.33 Statistics 34 R.34 Guidance & feedback 35 R.35 Sanctions

Official citation

FATF (2012-2025), International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation, Recommendation 30, FATF, Paris, France. Last updated October 2025.

Read the official text on fatf-gafi.org