T.Raja Kumar takes over as FATF chief

New Delhi, July 2

T. Raja Kumar of Singapore has been appointed as the president of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the anti-money laundering watchdog.

Kumar has replaced Marcus Pleyer who was holding the post till now, and will discharge his service for next two years.

"Raja Kumar starts as FATF President today. He will focus on enhancing the effectiveness of global anti-money laundering & counter-terrorist financing measures, improving asset recovery and other initiatives," FATF tweeted while making the announcement on Friday.

Kumar has been working against global terror financing for quite a long time.

Soon after taking over the charge, Kumar presented his objectives for the coming Plenary period (July 2022 -June 2024) to strength the FATF.

"During the Singapore Plenary years, the FATF will prioritise work in strengthening Asset Recovery, countering Illicit Finance of cyber-enabled crime, increasing Effectiveness of Global AML Measures, Reinforcing FATF Partnerships with FSRBs. During the Singapore Presidency, the FATF will continue its core work of identifying and analysing money laundering and terrorist financing methods and trends, developing and refining the FATF Standards, and evaluating and supporting the assessments of countries within the Global Network," Kumar said.

Raja Kumar holds an LLB (Hons) degree from the National University of Singapore and a Master's degree in Philosophy (Criminology and Law) from the University of Cambridge. Kumar also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University in 2006.

Kumar had been assisting the Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore and the Singapore Police Force for over 35 years.