📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Aziz Babanejad
International
FATF removes Bulgaria, Ivory Coast, Congo and Monaco from grey list
✍️ The Tribune
🗓 01 Nov 2026, 06:08 AM
👁 21
The Financial Action Task Force announced that Bulgaria, Ivory Coast, Congo and Monaco have been taken off its grey list as part of a coordinated effort to combat evolving financial crime threats.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog on money‑laundering and terrorist financing, reached a consensus among its member jurisdictions to delist four countries from its grey list. Bulgaria, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Monaco were removed after demonstrating sufficient progress in strengthening anti‑money‑laundering (AML) and counter‑terrorist financing (CFT) frameworks.
The decision was taken during a recent FATF plenary meeting, where members emphasized the need for coordinated action against the rapidly evolving tactics used by financial criminals. The grey list, which flags jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies, serves as a warning to the international banking community and can trigger heightened scrutiny of transactions involving those economies.
By clearing the four jurisdictions, FATF signalled that their regulatory reforms met the body’s standards, allowing them to benefit from reduced compliance costs and improved access to global financial markets. The removal also underscores FATF’s broader strategy of encouraging continuous improvement rather than punitive isolation.
While the four countries celebrate the upgrade, FATF reminded that many other jurisdictions remain under observation and must address outstanding deficiencies to avoid future restrictions.
The decision was taken during a recent FATF plenary meeting, where members emphasized the need for coordinated action against the rapidly evolving tactics used by financial criminals. The grey list, which flags jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies, serves as a warning to the international banking community and can trigger heightened scrutiny of transactions involving those economies.
By clearing the four jurisdictions, FATF signalled that their regulatory reforms met the body’s standards, allowing them to benefit from reduced compliance costs and improved access to global financial markets. The removal also underscores FATF’s broader strategy of encouraging continuous improvement rather than punitive isolation.
While the four countries celebrate the upgrade, FATF reminded that many other jurisdictions remain under observation and must address outstanding deficiencies to avoid future restrictions.