Explain like I’m five | How does the FATF mutual evaluation affect your daily life?

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Explain like I’m five | How does the FATF mutual evaluation affect your daily life?

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Explain like I’m five | How does the FATF mutual evaluation affect your daily life?

26 October 2026

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A Home Team officer breaks down Singapore’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mutual evaluation result and why it matters to every Singaporean, right down to your online shopping.

Written by Tang Ying Hui

PHOTO and GRAPHIC: Tang Ying Hui

Someone please explain to this writer like she’s five!

Ever nodded along during class while having absolutely no idea what was being discussed?

We get you.

When this writer was tasked to cover Singapore's latest Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mutual evaluation result, yours truly was quietly Googling "what is FATF" under the table during the discussion.

So, we sat down with the “team captain” - the man who co-led the team that prepared Singapore for the evaluation. Meet Gregory Foo, Director, Policy Development Division, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)!

Serving for 17 years in the Home Team, Gregory works on plans and policies related to MHA. PHOTO: Tang Ying Hui

Gregory had been quietly holding it all together – coordinating with ministries, law enforcement agencies, regulators and industry partners while serving as the primary liaison with the FATF, Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering and Assessment Team. This earned him the Minister for Home Affairs National Day Award (Team). We asked him to explain it like we were five.

Sit tight. Class is now in session.

Wait, who is the FATF?

“ They are the international body or organisation that sets the rules in place, so that the money being used in different financial systems is clean money,” Gregory explains. "And not only that the money is clean, but that it's not used for criminal purposes, like financing terrorism."

In other words, FATF sets international standards to help countries keep their financial systems free from illicit funds and prevent money from being used to finance crime and terrorism.

Over 25 government agencies and private sector partners came together for Singapore's FATF evaluation, each playing their part in keeping Singapore's financial system clean. PHOTO: Gregory Foo

So how does Singapore get evaluated? Let us use a ‘school project’ analogy.

Every agency brings its own expertise to the table — just like how classmates handle different parts of the project. GRAPHICS: Tang Ying Hui

Think of it as a report card. At the end of the evaluation, Singapore is assessed on how well it followed FATF's rules. “About every six years, we go through this assessment,” Gregory explains.

And this year’s evaluation?