FATF Plenary meeting held from 19-21 February 2025

Current Context: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) held its Plenary meeting from February 19 to 21, 2025, in Paris, France, marking the second meeting under Mexico’s Elisa de Anda Madrazo’s two-year presidency.

• Membership & Global Cooperation: Kenya joined the FATF as a guest jurisdiction, enhancing regional representation. Russia's suspension from the FATF continues due to concerns about sanctions evasion.
• Compliance Updates: Laos and Nepal were added to the "grey list" for strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT frameworks, while the Philippines was removed after successfully addressing its action plan.
• Standards & Financial Inclusion: Changes to the FATF Standards were agreed upon to support a risk-based approach and financial inclusion. A public consultation on these changes will be launched.
• Combating Financial Crimes: The Plenary finalized work on combating financial flows related to online child sexual exploitation, with a report to be published next month.

Question:

Q.1 Which countries were recently added to the Financial Action Task Force ‘s (FATF) "grey list" in February 2025?
a) Pakistan and Myanmar
b) Nepal and Laos
c) Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
d) Philippines and Vietnam

Answer: b) Nepal and Laos were added to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) "grey list" due to deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) frameworks.