Four countries walked off the FATF grey list on Friday, and not one was added. On the surface, that is good news. On closer reading, the plenary in Paris was about something else: how fast the watchdog wants the world to catch up with crypto and with the scam compounds that launder money through it.
Four exits, one warning
Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Monaco came off the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring after on-site visits confirmed they had finished their action plans. The list drops from 22 jurisdictions to 18.
Each exit has its own mechanics. Bulgaria, grey-listed in October 2023, had 10 items to clear. It improved the accuracy of its beneficial ownership register, put real estate agents, currency exchangers and postal money operators under risk-based supervision, and set market entry controls for virtual asset service providers. Côte d’Ivoire, listed in October 2024, tightened supervision and pushed up investigations and prosecutions. The Congo, listed in October 2022, finished its national risk assessment and gave its financial intelligence unit the resources to do actual analysis. Monaco, listed in June 2024, beefed up its prosecutors and judges and seized more property suspected of criminal origin.
Vietnam is the catch. It has sat on the grey list since June 2023, and the FATF noted that all its deadlines ran out in May 2025. The body voiced significant concern about its pace and said it will weigh next steps unless tangible improvements show up by the next plenary in February 2027.
Crypto gets a deadline
Following the FATF’s April 2026 ministerial declaration, delegates agreed to speed up enforcement of the standards on virtual assets where crypto activity is materially important. A new targeted review, built on objective criteria, will test those jurisdictions. Results arrive in June and October 2027. Criminal networks, the FATF said, increasingly use virtual assets for fraud, sanctions evasion and terrorist financing, so the gap between the rulebook and practice is the target.
Follow the money out of the scam compounds
The plenary also approved a report on the money flows behind scam compounds, which the FATF calls among the fastest-growing forms of organised crime anywhere. It is the first product of the UK presidency’s fraud roadmap, with publication promised the following week and a wider study to come. Myanmar, one of the three blacklisted jurisdictions alongside Iran and North Korea, got a pointed reminder to deal with the scam activity coming out of its territory. The FATF said it will consider countermeasures if there is no further progress by February 2027.
Iran and Syria
Iran claims a first. Its Financial Intelligence Center says the FATF’s public statement now explicitly recognises progress on 10 items of its Action Plan, agreed despite US and Israeli delegates in the room. But the watchdog still sees fundamental gaps: terrorist financing is not adequately criminalised, and five of Iran’s 10 reservations to the Palermo and terrorist-financing conventions are flagged as obstacles. Iran stays on the blacklist.
Syria, meanwhile, took part in a plenary after an absence of more than 15 years. Safwat Raslan, who chairs its anti-money laundering authority, laid out the steps toward meeting international standards ahead of a mutual evaluation.
Mexico and the United States had their mutual evaluation reports adopted, with publication set for December 2026. Russia’s membership stays suspended. And on December 1 and 2, the FATF convenes a forum in Dallas, Texas, to hammer out a policy statement on how the risk-based approach should work in practice.
Sources
- FATF steps up global action against virtual asset crimes and financial fraud
- Financial Action Task Force
- FATF plenary October 2026: Four grey list exits, a virtual asset review, and a new focus on scam compounds
- BREAKING: Monaco, Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire and DRC exit FATF grey list – AML Intelligence
- Iran’s FATF Case Enters New Phase as Progress on 10 Action Plan Items Recognized – WANA
- Anti-Money Laundering Authority participates in FATF meeting of Paris
Photo: MySociety (CC BY 2.0)
