India’s growing role in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing received a major boost after senior bureaucrat, Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal was appointed vice president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), making him the first Indian to hold the position.
Aggarwal, a 1994-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, was appointed at the conclusion of FATF’s plenary meeting held in Paris. He will serve as vice president from July 2026 to June 2027.
The FATF vice president is elected by the FATF Plenary from among member countries and assists the president in steering the organisation’s work and priorities.
Aggarwal brings extensive experience in financial intelligence and international cooperation against illicit finance. He has previously served as the head of India’s delegation to FATF and as the director of the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND), the country’s nodal agency responsible for receiving and analysing financial intelligence related to suspicious transactions.
He was serving as an additional secretary in the Union Finance Ministry when India’s latest FATF mutual evaluation report was published in 2024. He also held additional charge as FIU-IND director during that period.
The 2024 FATF assessment had praised India’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework, noting that the country had achieved “good results” in implementing measures to tackle illicit finance.
Before his FATF role, Aggarwal also held key administrative positions across the government, including responsibilities related to financial regulation, policy implementation and institutional coordination.
His appointment comes as FATF members focus on emerging challenges such as digital payments, virtual assets, cross-border financial crimes and evolving terrorist financing networks.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the appointment as a major achievement for India, saying it reflected the country’s focus on combating global terrorist financing networks and strengthening financial integrity.
Aggarwal said the appointment recognised India’s collective efforts in building a robust anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing system.
“I am deeply honoured to serve, and look forward to working with the FATF Global Network to keep the international financial system safe, inclusive and resilient,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
