Money laundering and terrorist financing risks

Publication details

Language

English

Country

Topic

FATF Recommendations

Methods and Trends

Mutual Evaluations

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 the extent to which it has been able to do so during its peer reviews. These reviews are based on the FATF issues new Mechanism to Strengthen Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Compliance 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 - 2017 Terrorism 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