Caribbean Financial Action Task Force re-rates Saint Vincent and the Grenadines AML CFT compliance, country now meets 31 of 40 FATF recommendations

The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force has published Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ second enhanced follow-up report on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, assessing progress since the country’s 2024 mutual evaluation. CFATF said the jurisdiction has been re-rated on four of the 40 FATF Recommendations and is now rated compliant or largely compliant with 31 recommendations. The report forms part of the country’s enhanced follow-up process and addresses technical compliance rather than effectiveness. The report text provided shows that Recommendation 15 on new technologies remained partially compliant. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines brought its Virtual Asset Business Act into force on May 31, 2025 and approved Virtual Asset Business Regulations in February 2026, creating a framework for registering and supervising virtual asset service providers and bringing them within the AML/CFT regime. CFATF nevertheless found that the country has not yet completed a sector-specific assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the virtual asset sector and has not demonstrated a risk-based supervisory approach calibrated to those risks. It also noted that the Financial Services Authority is processing 19 applications and that 414 LLCs and 72 BCs were struck from the register in 2025 for failing to apply for VASP registration within the transition period. A sectoral risk assessment for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026. CFATF said the results are intended to strengthen the national understanding of risk and support more granular supervision of the sector.