FATF increased monitoring & high-risk jurisdictions for October 2024

On October 25th, 2024, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) updated its lists of jurisdictions under  increased monitoring  and jurisdictions subject to a  call for action. The lists are reviewed during the FATF plenary meetings and adjusted in response to the FATF’s findings, as well as global, political and economic developments. 

Jurisdictions placed under increased monitoring are those identified with strategic deficiencies. These jurisdictions do not mandate the application of enhanced due diligence measures or the rejection of customers originating from them. Yet, the FAFT calls for applying a risk-based approach that considers the information provided in the risk analysis performed by obliged entities. 

Often, these jurisdictions commit to swiftly addressing the strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and are, as a result, subjected to increased monitoring. This list is commonly referred to as the “grey list.” 

Following the October 2024 review, the FATF now also identifies Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire and Lebanon as jurisdictions under increased monitoring. After a successful completion of the action plan, Senegal has been rewarded for its significant progress in improving its anti-money laundering, countering financing of terrorism and countering financing of proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF) regime and is no longer subject to increased monitoring by the FATF.  

Jurisdictions identified with strategic deficiencies, placed by the FATF under increased monitoring as of October 2024, are: 

• Algeria 
• Angola 
• Bulgaria  
• Burkina Faso 
• Cameroon  
• Côte d’Ivoire 
• Croatia 
• Democratic Republic of the Congo  
• Haiti  
• Kenya  
• Lebanon  
• Mali  
• Monaco  
• Mozambique  
• Namibia  
• Nigeria  
• Philippines  
• South Africa  
• South Sudan  
• Syria  
• Tanzania  
• Venezuela  
• Vietnam  
• Yemen  

High-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action are those identified with significant strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter ML/TF/PF. For these jurisdictions, obliged entities shall apply enhanced due diligence measures. In this regard, the FATF lists the below three jurisdictions as high-risk, also known as the “black list”: 

• Myanmar 
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
• Iran 

Furthermore, the suspension of the membership of the Russian Federation continues to stand. According to the FATF statement, all jurisdictions must continue to remain vigilant to the risks associated with Russia.  

Strategic Initiatives  

The report on mitigating Unintended Consequences of the FATF standards identified that the flexibility of the FATF’s risk-based approach is not being optimized. The revisions of those standards aim to encourage jurisdictions to allow for simplified measures when there is lower risk.  

For the first time, two jurisdictions, Cayman Islands and Senegal, were invited to participate in the FATF Plenary and Working Groups as guests. This initiative aims to increase inclusivity and broaden the diversity of perspective and backgrounds at the FATF. The invitations to guest jurisdictions are for one year, on a rotational basis.  

The FATF standards are currently being revised to reflect the evolution of cross-border payment systems and changes to industry standards and updating the TF risks accordingly. A new project for the FATF is to ensure that countries do not abuse the FATF requirements to restrict the activities of Non-Profit Organisations (NPO).  

Obliged entities subject to the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law of 2007, Cyprus Law 188(I)/2007 must consider the above information. This shall be reflected through the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) risk-scoring employed and the due diligence measures applied for customer onboarding and monitoring.

It is highlighted that deviation from the appropriate actions constitutes a violation of the said Law and can expose an entity to additional AML risk and administrative or criminal offences. 

Contact us at info@salvusfunds.com if you have any questions or require support with your AML regulatory requirements; our Regulatory Compliance team is ready to help.

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