Grey list loses four names: Monaco, Bulgaria, Côte d'Ivoire and DR Congo exit FATF monitoring
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decided at the close of its plenary in Paris to remove Bulgaria, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Monaco from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, known as the grey list, after on-site visits confirmed they had completed their action plans against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The plenary ran from 28 to 30 October 2026, the first under the task force's UK presidency, with delegations from its global network of more than 200 jurisdictions and observers. The FATF said the four countries had completed their action plans within the agreed timeframes and will no longer be subject to increased monitoring, while they continue working with the relevant regional bodies to sustain the improvements.
Beyond the list updates, the plenary agreed to accelerate implementation of the FATF standards on virtual assets in jurisdictions with materially important activity in the sector, through a targeted review whose results will be published in June and October 2027. It also approved a report that makes fraud and scam compounds a global priority and traces the illicit financial flows linked to them.
The plenary also adopted the mutual evaluation reports of Mexico and the United States, to be published in December 2026, and agreed to introduce tailored assessments for low-capacity countries so they can prioritise the highest-impact reforms on a risk-based approach. The task force also updated its statements on jurisdictions under increased monitoring and those subject to a call for action.
Al Majlis Analysis: Leaving the grey list is not an honorary certificate; it has a direct effect on the cost of finance, the ease of transfers and the confidence of correspondent banks and investors in the country concerned. That is why governments treat their action plans with the task force as economic reform rather than mere regulatory compliance. The UAE knows this equation well, having left the list in February 2024 after wide-ranging reforms. What stands out this time is that the task force's focus is shifting to virtual assets and scam compounds, which means the next battle will be fought in the digital space, and countries building fast-growing digital economies will need to upgrade their supervisory tools just as quickly.