Monaco has been added to the gray list of “enhanced surveillance” of the FATF, the anti-money laundering body

The Rock, like Venezuela, is in the sights of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This organization, which fights against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, announced on Friday, June 28, that it was placing these territories on the gray list of “reinforced surveillance”. “During this plenary meeting, the FATF added Monaco and Venezuela to its list of jurisdictions subject to enhanced surveillance”explained the international body in a press release, following a meeting in Singapore.

The FATF identified several areas in which Monaco needs to make progress. In particular, it targeted money laundering and tax fraud committed abroad, the seizure of criminal assets abroad, the level of resources allocated to magistrates, the application of effective and dissuasive sanctions, and increasing the seizure of assets suspected of originating from criminal activities.

While placing Monaco on its grey list, the FATF acknowledged on Friday June 28, the “significant progress” carried out by this territory on certain aspects of the fight against terrorism. Already in January 2023, the Principality had been singled out by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body. He then demanded “fundamental improvements to strengthen the effectiveness of supervision, investigation and prosecution of money laundering and confiscation of proceeds of crime”and in matters of terrorist financing.

The Principality has made efforts in terms of transparency

The Monegasque National Council has since adopted nine new laws in sixteen months. The latest dates from March in order to essentially strengthen the Monegasque Financial Security Authority (AMSF) and the anti-money laundering legal arsenal. Several local sources, however, note the difficulty of immediately implementing these measures, especially due to the difficulty of strengthening teams with qualified Monegasque personnel.

Monaco was also already included in a grey list of tax havens of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in April 2009. But the Principality was removed from it a few months later, in September 2009, after having launched a major transparency operation which resulted in tax cooperation agreements with dozens of countries over the following years.

The FATF identifies, in total, three countries whose measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism are at high risk (black list) and twenty-one requiring reinforced surveillance (gray list).