FATF President

Mr. Santiago Otamendi assumed the Presidency of the FATF on 1 July. He succeeded Juan Manuel Vega-Serrano of Spain

The term of the President begins on 1 July and ends on 30 June of the following year.  The President convenes and chairs the meetings of the FATF Plenary and the Steering Group, and he/she oversees the FATF Secretariat.

Mr. Santiago Otamendi of Argentina assumed the position of President of the FATF on 1 July 2017. He succeeded Mr. Juan Manuel Vega-Serrano of Spain.

Mr. Otamendi is the Secretary of Justice at the National Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of the Republic of Argentina.

In 1987, Mr. Otamendi joined the Federal judiciary of Argentina, serving in various offices in the criminal court system. In 2004, he was appointed District Judge on Criminal Matters. Between 2010 and 2012, he served Counselor at the Council of the Judiciary, the constitutional body responsible for selecting candidate judges for legislative approval, exercising disciplinary authority over magistrates and overseeing the judiciary's budget. From 2012 to 2014, he was appointed Secretary General for Access to Justice and Human Rights at the General Prosecutor's Office. Mr. Otamendi has also served as Director of International Affairs of the Argentine Federation of the Judiciary.

Mr. Otamendi received his Law Degree from the Catholic University of Argentina in 1990. In academia, Mr. Otamendi is currently an Associate Professor of Global Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing at the National University of Buenos Aires and an Associate Professor of Criminal Procedure Law at the Institute for Public Security of the Metropolitan Police.

He has published several papers and acted as speaker in various congresses on Justice and Criminal Policy affairs.

• Objectives for FATF-XXIX (2017-2018)  - paper by the incoming President

 Speeches:

• Speech at the GAFILAT Plenary, Buenos Aires, 27 July 2017

FATF-GAFI