The Role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Shaping International Financial Discipline: A Geographical Analysis of Soft Law and Spatial Governance of the Global Financial System

Sadeghi, Mohammadreza; Mirkoshesh, Amirhoshang; Mohammadzade, Mohammad Ali

doi:10.22034/jgeoq.2026.569428.4405

The Role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Shaping International Financial Discipline: A Geographical Analysis of Soft Law and Spatial Governance of the Global Financial System

Authors

Mohammadreza Sadeghi ¹

Amirhoshang Mirkoshesh ²

Mohammad Ali Mohammadzade ³

¹ Phd candidate international relation

² PhD in International Relations Faculty (Assistant Professor) Islamic Azad University, Shahrood Branch

³ Non-tenured faculty (instructor) of Islamic Azad University, Shahrood Branch

10.22034/jgeoq.2026.569428.4405

Abstract

In recent decades, the formation of global financial discipline has become a fundamental component of international financial governance. Within this context, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as a transnational body lacking legally binding hard law authority, has played a decisive role in regulating states’ financial behavior through the development and dissemination of standards and recommendations within the framework of soft law. Employing a qualitative research method and a critical-analytical approach, this article examines the role of FATF in enforcing global financial discipline and the mechanisms of financial governance based on international pressure. The findings indicate that FATF’s non-binding recommendations have effectively acquired quasi-binding force through instruments such as mutual evaluations, country risk classifications, restrictions on access to global financial networks, and the application of political and economic pressure. The article argues that this process represents a clear transformation of global financial governance from hard law to soft law, in which the economic and political power of dominant states—particularly within the G7 framework—plays a central role in consolidating and enforcing global financial discipline. Finally, the study emphasizes the need to reconsider FATF’s decision-making and evaluation mechanisms, enhance institutional transparency, and address the structural inequalities faced by developing countries under international pressure.

Keywords

Soft Law

Global Financial Discipline

Financial Governance

FATF

International Pressure