On Friday 13 June, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Bolivia and the Virgin Islands (UK) to its ‘grey list’ of jurisdictions subject to enhanced surveillance that have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes. However, Croatia, Mali and Tanzania have been removed from the list.
Since the adoption of its mutual evaluation report in December 2023, Bolivia has made significant progress on the recommended actions. Bolivia will continue to work with the FATF to implement its action plan, including ensuring that the relevant special investigative techniques can be used, implementing risk-based supervision of real estate agents, lawyers, accountants and dealers in precious metals and stones, and ensuring that information on beneficial owners is accurate and up to date, and that breaches of obligations are sanctioned.
Similarly, the Virgin Islands (UK) has made progress on several of the actions recommended in its mutual evaluation report in May 2023 and will continue to work with the FATF. In particular, it will have to ensure that accurate and up-to-date information on beneficial owners is available to the competent authorities, that breaches of obligations are penalised, and increase the seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime.
Twenty-two other jurisdictions remain on the list, including one EU Member State: Algeria, Angola, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.
This update to the FATF list comes as the European Commission updated its list of high-risk jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes on Tuesday 10 June (see EUROPE 13656/16). Under the European Directive, the EU has adopted the FATF recommendations. The updated list, which takes the form of a delegated regulation, will enter into force after scrutiny and non-objection by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, within a period of one month (which may be extended by a further month). (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)