On Friday June 28, 2024, the Principality of Monaco was placed on the FATF’s “grey list” of jurisdictions under enhanced scrutiny.
Since the evaluation report published by the MONEYVAL Committee in January 2023, Monaco has succeeded in improving its system on a number of points, including:
- The creation of a new structure combining the financial intelligence unit and the supervisory authority (AMSF);
- The strengthening of its approach to the detection and investigation of terrorist financing;
- Implementation of targeted financial sanctions;
- Risk-based supervision of non-profit organizations.
Other actions remain to be implemented. A timetable has been drawn up, extending over a year and a half (until January 2026), with two intermediate milestones scheduled for May 2025 and September 2025. It is structured around 6 key points:
- Strengthen understanding of the risks of laundering tax fraud committed abroad;
- Increase requests to third countries to identify and seize criminal financial assets abroad;
- Ensure that sanctions are imposed for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing rules, as well as with basic and beneficial owner reporting requirements;
- Increase the resources of its financial intelligence unit, as well as the quality and speed with which suspicious transaction reports are processed;
- Improve the efficiency of the judicial system, notably by increasing the number of magistrates and imposing effective, dissuasive and proportionate sanctions for money laundering;
- Increasing the seizure of assets suspected of originating from criminal activities.
The Principality of Monaco is committed to continuing its collaboration with the FATF and MONEYVAL to strengthen its measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
To consult the official announcement, click here : Official announcement – June 2024
Monaco is not currently on the list of HRSTs published by Monegasque ministerial decree. We therefore recommend that you pursue your efforts by continuing to apply your compliance mechanism as defined in your internal procedures. At the same time, Venezuela has also been added to the grey list. Conversely, Turkey and Jamaica have been removed. This could lead to a modification of the HRST list in the near future.