The June 2026 FATF Plenary marked a significant session in the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) calendar. Held from 17–19 June 2026, it was the final plenary under the current FATF presidency and focused on strengthening global financial integrity, refining international standards, and updating the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) continues to play a central role in setting global AML/CFT standards, and each plenary outcome directly impacts compliance obligations for financial institutions, fintechs, and designated non-financial businesses worldwide.

FATF Grey List Updates: June 2026

One of the most closely watched outcomes was the update to the FATF Grey List, which identifies countries actively working with FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT frameworks.

Countries added to the grey list

  • Iraq
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina

These jurisdictions were identified as requiring enhanced measures in areas such as:

  • Strengthening financial intelligence capabilities
  • Improving supervision of financial institutions
  • Enhancing investigations into money laundering and terrorist financing

Countries removed from the grey list

  • Algeria
  • Namibia

These removals reflect progress in completing agreed action plans and improving AML/CFT compliance frameworks.

Black List (High-Risk Jurisdictions): No Change

The FATF “black list”, officially referred to as High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, remained unchanged in June 2026.

This list continues to include:

  • Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)
  • Iran
  • Myanmar

These countries remain subject to the strongest FATF countermeasures due to serious and ongoing AML/CFT deficiencies.

FATF Thematic Focus Areas: June 2026 Updates

In addition to jurisdictional listings and technical refinements, FATF also released updated guidance and interpretative notes across several key thematic risk areas. These updates continue to reflect FATF’s shift toward risk-based, technology-aware, and inclusion-sensitive AML/CFT frameworks.

Financial Inclusion

FATF reiterated its long-standing commitment to ensuring AML/CFT frameworks do not unintentionally exclude legitimate individuals and businesses from the financial system.

Key emphasis areas included:

  • Encouraging proportionate customer due diligence (CDD) for low-risk customers
  • Supporting tiered onboarding models, particularly for basic financial services
  • Reducing over-reliance on “de-risking” practices by financial institutions
  • Strengthening guidance for informal and underserved economies

The update reinforces that financial integrity and financial inclusion are not competing priorities, but should be implemented in parallel through risk-sensitive controls.

Payment Transparency

FATF further advanced its work on improving transparency in payment chains, particularly in cross-border transactions.

Key focus areas included:

  • Strengthening the implementation of the “Travel Rule” for virtual assets and traditional wire transfers
  • Improving consistency in originator and beneficiary information across payment messages
  • Reducing information gaps in correspondent banking relationships
  • Enhancing data quality standards for intermediaries in payment chains

The objective is to ensure that law enforcement and financial institutions can better trace funds across increasingly complex and digitised payment ecosystems.

Cyber-Enabled Fraud

With the rapid growth of digital banking and fintech platforms, FATF highlighted cyber-enabled fraud as a growing predicate offence for money laundering.

Key developments included:

  • Increased focus on online impersonation, phishing, and account takeover schemes
  • Recognition of fraud-as-a-service ecosystems operating across jurisdictions
  • Stronger expectations for real-time monitoring in digital payment environments
  • Encouragement for better public–private intelligence sharing on cyber typologies

FATF emphasised that cyber-enabled fraud is now deeply interconnected with global money laundering networks, requiring more agile detection systems and data-driven monitoring approaches.

Terrorism Financing Risks

The plenary reinforced updated guidance on evolving terrorist financing risks, particularly those linked to decentralised and digital channels.

Key areas of concern included:

  • Use of small-value, high-frequency transactions to evade detection
  • Exploitation of crowdfunding platforms and online fundraising tools
  • Increased use of virtual assets for cross-border value transfer
  • Continued reliance on informal value transfer systems in certain regions

FATF urged jurisdictions to strengthen targeted financial sanctions implementation while ensuring legitimate humanitarian activity is not unintentionally disrupted.

Risk-Based Supervision

A major recurring theme was the need for more effective and consistent risk-based supervision (RBS) across all regulated sectors.

Key updates included:

  • Greater supervisory focus on outcome-based effectiveness rather than procedural compliance
  • Encouragement for regulators to adopt data-driven supervision models
  • Stronger expectations for ongoing monitoring of higher-risk financial institutions
  • Improved coordination between domestic supervisors and financial intelligence units

FATF also highlighted the importance of tailoring supervision to emerging risks such as fintech, virtual asset service providers, and cross-border digital payments.

Implications of FATF Plenary 2026 for Regulated Entities

The June 2026 updates have direct implications for compliance teams across financial services and regulated sectors.

Key actions required:

  • Update enterprise-wide risk assessments (EWRA) to reflect grey list changes
  • Enhance enhanced due diligence (EDD) for newly listed jurisdictions
  • Adjust country risk scoring models
  • Review sanctions screening and AML monitoring rules
  • Refresh internal AML training and compliance frameworks

Institutions with exposure to Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina should expect increased scrutiny and tighter onboarding controls.

Conclusion

The FATF June 2026 Plenary reinforces the organisation’s continued push toward a more effective and intelligence-driven global AML/CFT framework. With updates to the grey list, refinements to core recommendations, and ongoing emphasis on financial transparency, regulated entities must remain agile in adapting their compliance frameworks. As FATF standards continue to evolve, proactive monitoring and rapid policy alignment remain essential for mitigating regulatory and financial crime risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the immediate compliance impact of the June 2026 FATF grey list updates?

The addition of Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the grey list requires immediate reassessment of country risk ratings and exposure mapping. Compliance teams should identify customers, beneficial owners, counterparties and transaction flows linked to these jurisdictions. Screening rules, onboarding thresholds and ongoing monitoring scenarios should be updated without delay to reflect increased monitoring status.

What operational controls should be reviewed following changes to FATF lists?

Key controls include customer onboarding rules, jurisdiction-based risk scoring models, sanctions and PEP screening logic, transaction monitoring thresholds and alert calibration. Firms should also review whether automated systems correctly reflect updated FATF designations and whether manual overrides introduce inconsistency in risk treatment.

How should compliance teams respond to FATF’s confirmation that the black list remains unchanged?

The stability of Iran, North Korea and Myanmar on the high-risk list reinforces the expectation of consistent, non-discretionary application of the highest risk controls. Organisations should review whether any exceptions, legacy relationships or indirect exposures exist and confirm that escalation, restriction or prohibition policies are uniformly enforced across business units.

How should FATF’s focus on cyber-enabled fraud influence AML detection systems?

FATF’s continued emphasis on cyber-enabled fraud requires closer integration between fraud detection and AML monitoring systems. Identity fraud, synthetic identities, account takeover activity and anomalous behavioural patterns should be treated as AML-relevant signals. Organisations should ensure these indicators feed into risk scoring and not remain isolated within fraud teams.

What does FATF’s emphasis on payment transparency mean for compliance operations?

Payment transparency expectations reinforce the need for complete and accurate originator and beneficiary data throughout the payment lifecycle. Compliance teams should assess whether current systems can consistently identify missing or incomplete data, trace cross-border payment flows and reconcile discrepancies across intermediaries and payment rails.