Edited by Sergio Silvestri

In March 2022, the FATF launched a Call for Action urging all jurisdictions in high-risk countries to commit to enhanced due diligence. In the most serious cases, countries are required to implement countermeasures to protect the international financial system from the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing emanating from that territory. Since February 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FATF has suspended the review process for countries on the list of high-risk jurisdictions, which are, however, already subject to the FATF's request for countermeasures. If, however, a jurisdiction is placed under increased monitoring, the country is not required to perform enhanced due diligence but commits to quickly addressing identified strategic deficiencies within agreed-upon timeframes. This list is often referred to as the "grey list." The FATF and FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) continue to engage with jurisdictions as they report on progress in addressing their strategic deficiencies and calls on these jurisdictions to complete their action plans expeditiously and within the agreed timelines.

Additionally, the FATF identifies additional jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

Since the start of the pandemic, jurisdictions without immediate deadlines have been given greater flexibility to voluntarily report progress. Since October 2021, the FATF has reviewed the progress of these countries: Albania, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Malta, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, the Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

The FATF Recommendations establish a comprehensive framework of measures that countries should implement to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Countries have different legal, administrative, operational, and financial systems, so they cannot adopt identical measures to counter these threats.