FATF Keeps Iran Blacklisted, Orders Crypto Review
The FATF ended its Oct. 28-30 plenary keeping Iran and Myanmar blacklisted, dropping four countries from its grey list and launching a crypto sector review.
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PARIS — The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setter against money laundering and terrorist financing, ended its Oct. 28-30, 2026, plenary keeping Iran and Myanmar under its call for action, the list often called the blacklist.
It was the first plenary under the U.K. presidency of Giles Thomson, the FATF said in its outcomes statement. Delegates from more than 200 jurisdictions and observers took part.
Iran and Myanmar
The FATF said it updated its statements on both countries. It reinforced its call on Myanmar to address the extensive fraud and scam activity coming from the country, and its call on Iran to criminalize terrorist financing and set up a targeted financial sanctions regime.
The U.S. Treasury, which led the American delegation, said on Nov. 6 that the FATF reminded all jurisdictions to impose countermeasures on Iran restricting correspondent banking, digital asset transactions and business relationships.
Grey list changes
The FATF removed Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Monaco from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring after on-site visits. It said it was significantly concerned with Vietnam’s pace of progress and would consider next steps if Vietnam does not make tangible improvements by the next plenary.
Crypto and scam compounds
The plenary agreed to launch a targeted review of jurisdictions with materially important virtual asset sectors, with results to be published in June and October 2027, the FATF said. It also approved a report on the illicit money flows behind scam compounds, which it said would be published the following week.
The U.S. evaluation
The plenary adopted mutual evaluation reports on the United States and Mexico. The FATF said the reports will be published in December 2026 after a quality and consistency review. Treasury’s release was headlined as recognizing the effectiveness of the U.S. system, but the published text did not give ratings, so the findings cannot yet be checked.
What it means
Analysis: The virtual asset review is the item with the most bite for sanctions evaders, since it targets the jurisdictions where exchanges are based rather than single platforms. The scam-compound report lands as the U.S. keeps sanctioning those networks, and the U.S. evaluation’s details will matter when the text is published in December.
Sources
- FATF: Outcomes FATF Plenary, 28-30 October 2026
- U.S. Department of the Treasury: FATF Recognizes Effectiveness of U.S. AML/CFT System, Advances Key Illicit Finance Initiatives
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