International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has released the plenary documents issued by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) titled “High-Risk jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action” and “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” (collectively referred to as “ public statements”). FATF came out with the public statements on February 23, 2024. The public statements on these jurisdictions were adopted earlier, in February, 2020 and October, 2022. They pertain to jurisdictions that have strategic AML/CFT deficiencies as part of the ongoing efforts to identify and work with jurisdictions with strategic Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) deficiencies.

Vide these public statements, FATF has identified certain jurisdictions as high-risk and accordingly urges all its members to apply enhanced due diligence and apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks. This is often referred to as the “black list”. The high-risk jurisdictions subject to a FATF call on its members and other jurisdictions to apply countermeasures include Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Iran. Myanmar has been identified as a jurisdiction subject to a FATF call on its members and other jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence measures proportionate to the risks arising from the jurisdictions.

Similarly, the public statements also notify the jurisdictions under increased monitoring which are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. This is externally referred to as the “grey list”, viz., Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Croatia, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Turkiye, Vietnam and Yemen. It is pertinent to note that Barbados, Gibraltar, Uganda, and United Arab Emirates have been removed from the grey list.

Read the FATF public statements dated February 23, 2024 here –

(1) High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action – February 2024
https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/High-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/Call-for-action-february-2024.html

(2) Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring – February 2024
https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/High-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/Increased-monitoring-february-2024.html