The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed Nigeria and South Africa on its list of countries under increased monitoring, commonly known as the grey list, after they failed to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

Cambodia and Morocco meanwhile have been removed from the FATF’s grey list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring after making sufficient progress in improving their respective anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes covered by their individual action plans.

Workplan for Nigeria

Nigeria has agreed to work with the FATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime in eight specified areas.

These include ensuring that competent authorities have timely access to accurate and up-to-date beneficial ownership information and applying sanctions for breaches of violation by legal persons to beneficial ownership obligations.

Workplan for South Africa

South Africa has agreed to work with the FATF to identify strategies and time frames to improve its monitoring mechanisms and work with the task force on eight specific topics.

These include increased investigations and prosecutions of serious and complex money laundering and the full range of terrorist financing activities and its capacity to identify, seize and confiscate the proceeds and instrumentalities of such crimes.

Cambodia and Morocco

Both Cambodia and Morocco have improved their respective AML/CFT regimes covered by their individual action plans and addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments of their action plans on strategic deficiencies identified by the FATF. Therefore, both countries are no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process,

They are however required to continue to work with the FATF-style regional body of which they are a member to further strengthen their AML/CFT regimes.

Further details and relevant links can be found at Outcomes FATF Plenary, 22-24 February 2023 which can be found here.

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