Monaco and Venezuela added to FATF Grey List

Following today’s conclusion of its June 2024 plenary session, the FATF has updated the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring. The changes to the list include the addition of Monaco and Venezuela to the grey list and the removal of Jamaica and Türkiye.

Background Information

In our article on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), we explained the important role that this inter-governmental organisation has in the world-wide fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. We highlighted the importance of tracking updates published by the FATF, and how changes to the list of high-risk countries maintained by the FATF may mandate changes to the type of due diligence you apply to your clients.

The FATF maintains two lists of high-risk countries – a “blacklist” and a “grey list”. The blacklist, officially known as “High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action” includes countries that are considered to be non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. The “grey list”, officially known as “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” includes countries that are identified by the FATF to have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regimes but are making significant efforts to improve and are working with the FATF to resolve these issues within the agreed timeframes.

These lists are usually updated every four months at the end of the FATF’s plenary session, a meeting open to delegations from all 200+ FATF member countries.

Latest FATF Lists

Added to the Grey List

The FATF has added Monaco to the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, while noting the improvements the country has made since its mutual evaluation report in December 2022. Monaco has committed to working on an action plan to address the strategic deficiencies in its AML regime as highlighted by the FATF. These include strengthening the understanding of foreign tax fraud and money laundering risks, increasing efforts to seize criminal assets abroad, enhancing sanctions for AML/CFT violations, improving the quality and timeliness of suspicious transaction reporting, boosting judicial efficiency in handling money laundering cases, and increasing seizures of suspected criminal property.

The other country added to the grey list was Venezuela. The FATF noted that following the mutual evaluation report in November 2022, Venezuela has made improvements to its AML regime, including updating its national risk assessment. Nonetheless, further improvements are needed in terms of increasing the understanding of money laundering and terrorist financing risks, ensuring comprehensive AML/CFT measures across all financial sectors, improving beneficial ownership transparency, strengthening the financial intelligence unit, enhancing the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes, implementing risk-based measures for non-profit organizations, and improving the implementation of targeted financial sanctions related to terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

Countries taken off the Grey List

On the other hand, Jamaica and Türkiye have been removed from the grey list following their completion of the action plan they had been following since greylisted by the FATF in February 2020 and October 2021 respectively.