FATF - Financial Action Task Force

08/01/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/01/2022 08:04

Money laundering and terrorist financing risks

One of the key requirements of the FATF Recommendations is for countries, to identify, assess and understand the money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) risks that they are exposed to. Once these risks are properly understood, countries will be able to implement anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing measures that mitigate these risks.

This approach, the risk-based approach, is central to the effective implementation of the FATF Standards and also applies to financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions.

Many countries have chosen to publish information about the ML/TF risks to their financial system in the form of a national money laundering and terrorist financing risks assessment. The publication of such a national risk assessment is not a mandatory requirement of the FATF Standards. However, sharing this information will increase global understanding of ML/TF risk and may help countries identify, assess and understand where their own vulnerabilities lie.

Each country can determine how it will assess these risks. To assist countries in this process, the FATF has developed guidance which explains the general principles and stages of a risk assessment. The practices described in these guidance documents serve as examples, and are not specific actions that a country must take.

Regardless of the approach a country has chosen to identify, assess and understand the risk to its financial system, the FATF will assess the extent to which it has been able to do so during its peer reviews. These reviews are based on the Methodology for assessing technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the Effectiveness of AML/CFT Systems and assessors will look closely at a country's evaluation of its risks during the assessment of Recommendation 1 and Immediate Outcome 1.

The following are examples of published national and regional risk assessments:

National risk assessments

Armenia

National Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk in the Republic of Armenia - 2014

Australia

Australia's non-profit organisation sector: money laundering and terrorism financing risk assessment - 2017Terrorism Financing in Australia - 2014
Money Laundering in Australia - 2011

Austria

Nationale Risikoanalyse Österreich - 2015 [in German only]

Bahamas

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Summary 2015 / 2016

Bangladesh

National Risk Assessment Report - 2016

Belarus

National Risk Assessment - Summary - 2014-2017

Bermuda

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk

Bhutan

National Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Risk Assessment - 2017
Canada

Assessment of Inherent Risks of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in Canada - July 2015
Tendances et analyse des risques en 2014 [in French only]

Cambodia

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report - 2018

Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands National Risk Assessment Relating to Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Proliferation Financing - 2015

Chile

National Evaluation of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks

Chinese Taipei

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report - 2018

Colombia

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk

Cook Islands

Cook Islands National Money-Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment

Croatia

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report - 2016 [in Croat only]

Cyprus

National Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks - 2018

Czech Republic

Report on the First Round of National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment - December 2016

Denmark

Money Laundering in Denmark - National Risk Assessment 2015
Money Laundering in Denmark - National Risk Assessment - 2018
National Risk Assessment on Terrorist Financing in Denmark - 2019

Dominican Republic

Summary of National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, 2010-2014 [Spanish]

Fiji

Fiji Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism National Risk Assessment - 2014

Finland

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2015 [in Finnish only]

France

Tendances et analyse des risques de blanchiment de capitaux et de financement du terrorisme en 2017-2018 [French only]

Germany

National risk assessment of Germany, 2018-2019 [Germany only]
National risk assessment of Germany, 2018-2019

Ghana

National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Gibraltar

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment - 2018

Greece

Money Laundering Risk Assessment - October 2018

Hong Kong, China

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report - 2018

Indonesia

Indonesia National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering - 2015

Ireland

National Risk Assessment for Ireland - 2016

Isle of Man

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism - 2015

Israel

National Risk Assessment on Terror Financing - 2017

Italy

National Assessment of Money-Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks - 2014
National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing - 2018

Japan

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2019
National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2018
National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2017

Jersey

Money Laundering Typologies and Trends - 2015
National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering

Kyrgyzstan

National Risk Assessment

Latvia

Latvian National money laundering/terrorism financing risk assessment report - 2017

Liechtenstein

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment Report - 2018

Lithuania

Lithuanian National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2015

Luxembourg

Évaluation nationale des risques en matière de blanchiment de capitaux et de financement du terrorisme - 2018
National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing - 2018

Malawi

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing National Risk Assessment Report - 2018

Malaysia

National Money Laundering & Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment - 2017

Malta

National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism - 2018

Mexico

Evaluación Nacional de Riesgos De Lavado de Dinero y Financiamiento Al Terrorismo en México - 2016

Monaco

L'Evaluation nationale des risques de la Principauté de Monaco - 2016/2017

Mongolia

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism - 2016

Montenegro

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report

Myanmar

National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism - 2018

Netherlands

National Risk Assessment on Terrorist Financing - English Summary - 2017
National Risk Assessment Money Laundering report
National Risk Assessment Terrorist Financing report

New Zealand

National Risk Assessment - 2010
Sector Risk Assessment - 2011
Sector Risk Assessment for Registered Banks, Non-Bank Deposit Takers and Live Insurers - 2017
Financial Intelligence Unit - National Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment - 2018

Nigeria

Nigeria National Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment - 2016
Nigeria National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering & Terrorism Financing - 2016

Panama

Evaluacion nacional de riesgos de blanqueo de capitales y financiamiento al terrorismo de Panama [in Spanish only]

Papua New Guinea

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment - 2017

Peru

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment - 2016

Philippines

National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing - 2016

Portugal

Avaliação nacional de riscos de branqueamento de capitais e de financiamento do terrorismo - 2015 [in Portuguese only]

Russian Federation

National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment 2017-2018

San Marino

National Risk Assessment - 2015

Serbia

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering in the Republic of Serbia

Seychelles

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk - 2017
Singapore

Singapore National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report - 2013
Slovak Republic

National Assessment of the Risk of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in the Slovak Republic

Spain

National Risk Assessment of Spain - 2020

Sri Lanka

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment of Sri Lanka 2014

Sweden

2021 National Risk Assessment for money laundering and terrorist financing, including a sector-by-sector analysis

2019 National Risk Assessment for money laundering and terrorist financing

Switzerland

Rapport sur l'évaluation nationale des risques de blanchiment d'argent et de financement du terrorisme en Suisse - 2015
Bericht über die nationale Beurteilung der Geldwäschereiund Terrorismusfinanzierungsrisiken in der Schweiz
Report on the national evaluation of the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in Switzerland - 2015

Tajikistan

In Tajik only

Tanzania

National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Report - 2016

Timor Leste

National Risk Assessment 2016-2020 [in Portuguese only]

Tunisia

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, Executive Summary - 2017
Uganda National Risk Assessment of Uganda - 2017

Ukraine

National Risk Assessment Report on Preventing and Countering Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism - 2016

United Kingdom

UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2015
UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2017
UK National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing - 2020
UK National risk assessment of proliferation financing - 2021

United States

National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing - 2020
National Money Laundering Risk Assessment - 2015
National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment - 2015
US National Proliferation Financing Risk Assessment - 2018
National Money Laundering Risk Assessment - 2018
National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment - 2018
2022 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment
2022 National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment
2022 National Proliferation Financing Risk Assessment

Uruguay

National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing - 2014

Vanuatu

Vanuatu Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism National Risk Assessment - 2015

Zimbabwe

Summary of the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism National Risk Assessment of Zimbabwe - 2015

Regional or supranational risk assessments

Regional risk assessment 2016 South-East Asia / Australia - co-led by Australia and Indonesia, with contributions from Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

EU Supranational Risk Assessment Report - 26 June 2017

European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) Joint Opinion on the Risks of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Affecting the Union's Financial Sector - 20 February 2017

GAFILAT Regional Threat Assessment, 2017

More on:

FATF conducts typologies studies which essentially represent ML/TF assessments of a narrower scope, such as on particular threats or vulnerabilities

Methodology for assessing technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the Effectiveness of AML/CFT Systems

More about FATF Mutual Evaluations