B36

The FATF definition of International organisations includes three criteria: [R1.1][R2.1] (1) the entity must be established by an international agreement which has the status of a treaty; (2) the entity's existence is recognised by law; (3) the entity is not treated as a resident institutional unit of the countries in which it is located. The UK Commonwealth Secretariat Act 1966 gave the Commonwealth Secretariat legal personality together with privileges and immunities.[R10.1] This means it satisfies parts (2) and (3) of the definition. This leaves only part (1) to consider. The Commonwealth Secretariat was founded by a political agreement rather than a treaty and may at first glance appear to fail the first part of the definition. This is however a special case because legislation passed by the UK and other Commonwealth countries gives the agreement the functional status of a treaty. It is important to note that the FATF definition includes the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in its list of examples[R1.1][R2.1]. The OSCE's founding documents are statements of intent rather than treaties and this supports the view that FATF intended the definition to be applied in a functional way and in a way that can include some entities not formed by treaties. Accordingly, the Commonwealth Secretariat has been assessed as meeting the FATF definition of International organisation.