Who must comply?
- Central authorities for mutual legal assistance
- Asset-recovery offices and prosecutors
- Specialised AML/asset-recovery units
- Tax and customs authorities involved in cross-border tracing
Key requirements
- 1
Identify, freeze, seize and confiscate on request
Authorities must take expeditious action in response to foreign requests to: identify property, freeze it (provisional measures), seize it physically when warranted, and ultimately confiscate it.
- 2
Property covered
Coverage must include property laundered, proceeds from criminal activity, instrumentalities used in or intended for use in ML/TF/predicate offences, property of corresponding value, and TF-related funds.
- 3
Both conviction-based and non-conviction-based
Countries should be able to act in response to foreign confiscation orders that result from a criminal conviction AND, where permitted, non-conviction-based confiscation proceedings.
- 4
Adequate procedures and resources
Authorities must have adequate procedures, personnel and technology to execute foreign requests promptly — including specialised asset-recovery offices and management of seized property.
- 5
Asset-sharing arrangements
Countries should consider entering into arrangements with foreign counterparts to share recovered assets — proportionate to the cooperation provided — to incentivise cooperation in complex cross-border cases.
- 6
Coordination with R.4 and R.30
Foreign-request execution must coordinate with domestic confiscation tools (R.4) and parallel financial investigations (R.30) — leveraging the same domestic infrastructure.
Practical example
Example: US asset-recovery request to Mexico
A US prosecutor obtains a federal court forfeiture order against assets in Mexico belonging to a money-launderer for a Sinaloa cartel cell. The US authority requests Mexico to recognise and execute the forfeiture order. Under R.38, Mexico's FGR — coordinated with the Indep — initiates a domestic recognition proceeding. Mexican law also permits parallel non-conviction-based action under the Ley Nacional de Extinción de Dominio if the Mexican proceeding identifies assets not covered by the US order. Recovered assets may be shared bilaterally under the Mexico-US asset-sharing agreement.
How Mexico implements it
Country-specific section in Spanish — Mexican regulatory references (LFPIORPI, CNBV, SAT, UIF).
México implementa la R.38 mediante un marco nacional de recuperación robusto y tratados bilaterales:
FGR + Indep — Cooperación operativa
La FGR coordina la recepción de solicitudes ALM-decomiso, el reconocimiento de órdenes extranjeras y la ejecución vía el Indep (que administra bienes asegurados/decomisados).
Ley Nacional de Extinción de Dominio (2019)
Permite a México actuar sin condena penal contra bienes vinculados a delitos del catálogo (LD, narcotráfico, corrupción, secuestro, etc.). Esta facultad nacional fortalece la capacidad de respuesta a solicitudes extranjeras bajo la R.38.
Acuerdos de reparto de activos
México tiene acuerdos bilaterales de reparto con EUA y otros países, permitiendo compartir activos recuperados de manera proporcional a la cooperación brindada por cada jurisdicción.
Convenciones multilaterales
La Convención de Palermo (Art. 13) y la Convención de Mérida (Art. 57) ofrecen base directa para el reconocimiento y ejecución de órdenes extranjeras de decomiso, complementando los tratados bilaterales.
Milestones
-
1990
Original Recommendation 38 on MLA-confiscation
-
2012
Updated to clearly include non-conviction-based confiscation
-
2024
Major update prioritising asset recovery in international cooperation
-
2025
October 2025 update strengthens asset-sharing standards
Related Recommendations
Other Recommendations in Group G — International Cooperation
Official citation
FATF (2012-2025), International Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism & Proliferation, Recommendation 38, FATF, Paris, France. Last updated October 2025.
Read the official text on fatf-gafi.org