FATF increased monitoring & high-risk jurisdictions – October 2025
On 24th October 2025, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published its latest update on jurisdictions under increased monitoring, commonly referred to as the grey list and those classified as high-risk, or on the blacklist. 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 under increased monitoring (grey list) are cooperating closely with the FATF to resolve strategic shortcomings in their frameworks for combating money laundering (ML), terrorist financing (TF), and proliferation financing (PF). Being placed under increased monitoring indicates that the country has formally committed to addressing these deficiencies promptly, within agreed timelines, and remains under closer FATF scrutiny throughout the process.
Following the October 2025 review and after a successful completion of the action plan, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa have been rewarded for their significant progress in improving their anti-money laundering, countering financing of terrorism and countering financing of proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF) regime and are no longer subject to increased monitoring by the FATF.
Jurisdictions identified with strategic deficiencies, placed by the FATF under increased monitoring as of June 2025, are:
- Algeria
- Angola
- Bolivia
- Bulgaria
- Cameroon
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Haiti
- Kenya
- Lao PDR
- Lebanon
- Monaco
- Namibia
- Nepal
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Virgin Islands (UK)
- 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 list remains unchanged with the below jurisdictions as high-risk:
- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
- Iran
- Myanmar
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.
Outcomes Joint FATF-MONEYVAL Plenary, 22-24 October 2025- Strategic Initiatives
Strengthening asset recovery around the world
The Plenary adopted new guidance to help countries understand and implement recently strengthened FATF Standards on asset recovery, which gave jurisdictions a more robust toolkit to target and confiscate low level recovery of criminal assets around the world.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deepfakes
The FATF has released a ‘Horizon Scan’ warning of the growing risks posed by generative AI, autonomous AI agents, and other emerging technologies. The report highlights how criminals are increasingly exploiting these tools, such as using deepfakes to conduct cyber fraud and impersonation schemes at an unprecedented scale. The forthcoming analysis will present real-world case studies to help governments and the private sector strengthen safeguards, enhance detection capabilities, and harness AI responsibly to mitigate illicit finance risks.
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