FATF Plenary Concludes with Key AML/CFT Developments

The joint Plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the MONEYVAL was held from 10 to 13 June 2025 in Strasbourg, France. The Plenary and its associated Working Group meetings brought together over 200 representatives from jurisdictions worldwide, as well as observers from international organizations. Representing Mongolia, the Head of the Financial Information Unit participated in the meetings under the framework of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering.

The Plenary discussed key issues related to anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and counter-proliferation financing of the weapons of mass destruction (AML/CFT/CPF), and reached the following outcomes:

• The FATF agreed to amend Recommendation 16 to enhance the safety and security of cross-border payments. The revised standard is scheduled for official publication on 18 June 2025.
• MONEYVAL adopted the mutual evaluation report of Latvia, marking the first evaluation under the fifth round of assessments globally.
• Progress reports on addressing technical compliance deficiencies of three member jurisdictions were discussed by MONEYVAL.
• The FATF adopted updated standards aimed at preventing the abuse of non-profit organizations (NPOs).
• The FATF also approved forthcoming reports and guidance intended to support jurisdictions in implementing a risk-based approach, to be published in the coming months.

In addition, updates were made to the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring (“grey list”). Croatia, Mali, and Tanzania were removed from the list, while Bolivia and the British Virgin Islands were added. As of June 2025, a total of 24 countries are subject to increased monitoring:

• Algeria, Angola, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam, British Virgin Islands, and Yemen.

No changes were made to the list of high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action (“black list”), which remains as follows:

• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea;
• Iran;
• Myanmar.