FATF adds Monaco, high-profile European haven for super rich, to money laundering list; Türkiye removed

The European principality of Monaco, a haven for the world’s super-rich, was added to the FATF grey list along with Venezuela on June 28. The decision was taken in the in the FATF plenary held in Singapore between June 26 and June 28. 

While Monaco joined the EU country of Bulgaria on the watchlist, the countries of Türkiye and Jamaica were removed. Monaco is the highest profile European jurisdiction added to the terror watchdog’s watchlist.  

Jamaica and Türkiye were removed from the list after resolving the deficiencies identified by the FATF, which monitors efforts by more than 200 countries and jurisdictions to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism. 

Türkiye has made “significant progress” in improving its regime of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, and is “no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process”, the Paris-based body said in a statement.

The FATF also has a “black list” of nations, which are considered high-risk jurisdictions. 

The body urged countries to apply countermeasures against Iran and North Korea and warned about the latter’s “illicit activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and its financing”. 

It urged countries to end all business with North Korean banks and limit business with Pyongyang entities. The FATF also urged countries to apply countermeasures to Iran, which it noted had not ratified the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions. 

Meanwhile, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded India had a “high level of technical compliance” with its standards to counter money laundering and terror financing and said New Delhi’s mechanisms for this are “achieving good results”.  

The Mutual Evaluation Report of India, which was adopted in the FATF plenary held in Singapore between June 26 and June 28, places India in the ‘regular follow-up’ category, a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries. This marks a significant milestone in the nation’s efforts to combat money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF).