FATF adds Kuwait, Papua New Guinea to increased monitoring list

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has added Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring (grey list).

In the public statement of the Reserve Bank of India, issued after its plenary meeting held on February 11–13, 2026, the FATF said Kuwait and Papua New Guinea were placed under “increased monitoring” after identifying strategic deficiencies in their frameworks to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

Countries placed on this so-called “grey list” commit to implementing time-bound action plans to address the identified gaps.

FATF Plenary meeting in Mexico in early 2026

Apart from the newly added countries, jurisdictions currently under increased monitoring include Algeria, Angola, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam, the Virgin Islands (UK), and Yemen. These countries have developed action plans with the FATF to address weaknesses in their anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism and proliferation regimes.

The FATF periodically publishes the black list and grey list as part of its global efforts to identify and work with countries that have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism and proliferation financing frameworks.

The FATF is an intergovernmental body that sets global standards for countering money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing and other threats to the integrity of the international financial system. Each year, The FATF organizes three plenary meetings to review progress and update these lists.

Vũ Thu Hà – TT81