Who must comply?
- Police and judicial police forces
- Federal prosecutors and specialised AML/CFT units
- Customs and tax authorities with criminal-investigation roles
- Anti-corruption agencies
Key requirements
- 1
Production orders and access to records
Authorities must have power to compel financial institutions, DNFBPs and others to produce records, books and information necessary for investigations — including beneficial-ownership data — without alerting the subject.
- 2
Search and seizure
Authorities must have power to conduct searches of premises, vehicles and persons, and to seize evidence including paper records, electronic devices, currency, virtual assets and other property.
- 3
Take witness statements
Authorities must be able to compel witnesses to give statements relevant to the investigation, with appropriate protections under domestic procedural law.
- 4
Special investigative techniques
Where appropriate, authorities should be able to use undercover operations, controlled deliveries, surveillance, interception of communications, and access to computer systems and networks — subject to judicial oversight.
- 5
Identify ownership and control of assets
Authorities must be able to identify, in a timely manner, whether natural or legal persons hold or control accounts — including through nominee or beneficial-ownership arrangements.
- 6
Coordination among agencies
Domestic coordination between police, prosecutors, FIU, supervisors and tax authorities must be effective — with information sharing and joint operations where warranted.
Practical example
Example: Mexican judicial police uses special techniques
Mexico's FGR investigates an organised criminal enterprise laundering proceeds of fuel theft (huachicol). Under the LFCDO and R.31, the FGR obtains judicial authorisation to: intercept communications, deploy an undercover agent, conduct controlled deliveries of cash to track money mules, search premises across multiple states, freeze and seize bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, and compel a Mexican bank to produce 5 years of transaction records on suspect accounts. All evidence flows to a parallel financial investigation aimed at extinguishing the criminal proceeds via the Ley Nacional de Extinción de Dominio.
How Mexico implements it
Country-specific section in Spanish — Mexican regulatory references (LFPIORPI, CNBV, SAT, UIF).
México implementa la R.31 a través del Código Nacional de Procedimientos Penales y leyes especiales:
CNPP — Facultades del Ministerio Público
El Código Nacional de Procedimientos Penales otorga al MP facultades para investigar, allanar, asegurar bienes, citar testigos y compeler información — bajo control judicial.
LFCDO — Técnicas especiales
La Ley Federal contra la Delincuencia Organizada autoriza para casos del régimen LFCDO técnicas especiales: intervención de comunicaciones, agentes encubiertos, entregas vigiladas, infiltración.
Compulsión sobre instituciones financieras
El secreto bancario tiene excepciones expresas para autoridades penales (Art. 117 LIC). Con orden judicial — y en algunos casos administrativa — la FGR accede a registros sin alertar al cliente, conforme a la R.31 (no tipping-off).
Activos virtuales — desafío reciente
La FGR ha desarrollado capacidad para asegurar wallets de criptoactivos en cooperación con exchanges nacionales y vía cooperación internacional con FBI/HSI/Europol cuando los activos están en exchanges extranjeros.
Milestones
-
1990
Original Recommendation 28 on investigative powers
-
2012
Renumbered as Recommendation 31
-
2025
October 2025 update emphasises virtual-asset and digital-evidence capacity
Related Recommendations
Other Recommendations in Group F — Powers of Competent Authorities
Official citation
FATF (2012-2025), International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation, Recommendation 31, FATF, Paris, France. Last updated October 2025.
Read the official text on fatf-gafi.org