The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published the outcomes of its Plenary meeting in Mexico City, including changes to its public lists by adding Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to the jurisdictions under increased monitoring and updating its public statement on Iran. The Plenary also adopted mutual evaluation assessment reports for Austria, Italy and Singapore, and approved new work on cyber-enabled fraud and virtual assets. Placement under increased monitoring reflects strategic anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) deficiencies that the jurisdiction has committed to address through a time-bound action plan. The adopted mutual evaluations covered Austria (led by the International Monetary Fund), Italy, and the joint FATF–Asia-Pacific Group evaluation of Singapore, assessing both effectiveness and compliance with the FATF Recommendations; the new assessment round includes a three-year roadmap of key recommended actions. On emerging risks, the Plenary approved a paper on cyber-enabled fraud and agreed two virtual asset reports covering offshore virtual asset service providers and risks linked to stablecoins and unhosted wallets, including where stablecoins move via peer-to-peer transactions. Governance and coordination measures included appointing Mr Giles Thomson of the United Kingdom as incoming FATF President for July 2026 to June 2028, steps to increase FATF-Style Regional Bodies’ participation, and confirmation that the suspension of the Russian Federation remains in place. The mutual evaluation reports are due to be published in April–May 2026 following a global quality and consistency review, while the two virtual asset reports are scheduled for publication next month. The Strategic Priorities for 2026–2028 will be presented for endorsement at the FATF Ministerial meeting in April, and Mr Thomson will take up his duties on 1 July 2026.
Financial Action Task Force 2026-02-13
Financial Action Task Force adds Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to increased monitoring and updates Iran high-risk statement
The FATF Plenary in Mexico City added Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to its increased monitoring list, adopted mutual evaluation reports for Austria, Italy, and Singapore, and approved work on cyber-enabled fraud and virtual assets. Governance updates include appointing Giles Thomson as FATF President from July 2026 to June 2028, with mutual evaluation and virtual asset reports set for publication in April–May 2026 and next month, respectively.