De-risking should never be used as an excuse for banks not to implement properly a risk-based approach and could force customers into the shadowy world of unregulated money transfers, according to the Financial Action Task Force. At its plenary meeting the Paris-based standard setter expressed its concern that banks had engaged in the "wholesale de-risking" of customers rather than assessing clients case by case. It said de-risking, where banks drop customers perceived to present money laundering risks, should not replace the risk-based approach as set out by FATF. FATF's recommendations state that firms should only terminate customer business relationships on an individual basis when the money laundering and terrorist financing risks cannot be offset. "What is not in line with the FATF standards is the wholesale cutting loose of entire classes of customer, without taking into account, seriously and comprehensively, their level of risk or risk mitigation measures for individual customers
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