The impact of grey listing by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

This Anti-Corruption Helpdesk brief was produced in response to a query from a U4 Partner Agency. The U4 Helpdesk is operated by Transparency International in collaboration with the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre based at the Chr. Michelsen Institute.

Query

What is the potential impact of inclusion on the FATF grey list? What are the economic consequences and the impact on the financial sector? What are the consequences for the authorities concerned?

Grey listing by the FATF has been shown to drive successful anti-money laundering reforms as countries commit to resolve the identified strategic deficiencies in their regimes, as set out in an action plan. Countries that have been placed on the grey list are not subject to any official sanctions by the FATF. Nonetheless, being publicly identified on the grey list can still have negative economic and reputational consequences, which may impact the financial sector and international financing and aid.

Contents

1. Background
2. Next steps for grey listed countries
3. Implications for money laundering reforms
4. Other ramifications
   1. The economy
   2. The financial sector
   3. International aid and financing
   4. The European Union’s policy on high-risk third countries and the United Kingdom’s list of high-risk third countries
   5. The black list
5. References

The French version of this Helpdesk Answer can be found here.

Authors

Caitlin Maslen (TI)

[email protected]

Reviewers

Rosa Loureiro-Revilla (U4)

Jamie Bergin (TI)

Date

01/11/2023

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