Politically Exposed Person

In financial regulation, "politically exposed person" (PEP) is a term describing someone who has been entrusted with a prominent public function. A PEP generally presents a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence that they may hold. The terms politically exposed person and senior foreign political figure are often used interchangeably, particularly in international forums. Foreign official is a term for individuals deemed as government persons under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or FCPA, and although definitions are similar to PEP, there are quite a few differences and should not be used interchangeably. The term PEP is typically used referring to customers in the financial services industry, while 'foreign official' refers to the risks of third party relationships in all industries.

While there is no global definition of a PEP, most countries have based their definition on the 2003 Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) standard, as for example the Swiss financial market regulator in 2011, which quoted it as "the international standard" or the Australian government in 2015. FATF is an international inter-governmental body, founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 and hosted by the OECD, to set standards and promote implementing measures against money laundering, financing of terrorism and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to preserve the integrity of the global financial system.

In February 2012, the FATF's latest definition of politically exposed persons (PEP), revised from 2003, is as follows:

Requirements for a PEP apply to family members or close associates, any individual publicly known, or known by the financial institution to be a close personal or professional associate. "The FATF definition is not intended to include middle-ranking or more junior individuals."

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