FATF ¦ Outcomes FATF Plenary, 22-24 October 2025

FATF Plenary Sets New Pace on Asset Recovery and AI Risks, Removes Four African Countries from Increased Monitoring

A decisive shift in global efforts against illicit finance marked the conclusion of the fourth Plenary meeting under the Mexican Presidency of Elisa de Anda Madrazo in Paris on 24 October 2025. Delegates from more than 200 jurisdictions and observers within the FATF Global Network met over three days to drive a tighter focus on depriving criminals of their proceeds and safeguarding the international financial system from emerging threats, including those posed by artificial intelligence and deepfakes.

New Round of Mutual Evaluations: Belgium and Malaysia Lead the Way

In a key milestone, the Plenary adopted the first two mutual evaluation reports of the new round, assessing Belgium and Malaysia under a more time-bound and risk-based methodology. This updated approach places greater emphasis on tangible country outcomes in tackling money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. The reports for Belgium and Malaysia are scheduled for publication in December 2025, following FATF’s global quality and consistency review. Under the new framework, countries will receive a timebound roadmap of Key Recommended Actions, with an expectation to strengthen the effectiveness of their systems within three years. For compliance teams and policymakers, this signals a stricter focus on measurable results rather than process and inputs.

Jurisdictions No Longer Under Increased Monitoring: Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa

The Plenary removed Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa from the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring after successful on-site visits and completion of their Action Plans within agreed timelines. This move recognizes positive progress in addressing AML/CFT/CPF strategic deficiencies identified during their mutual evaluations.

These jurisdictions will continue engagement to sustain improvements: Burkina Faso and Nigeria with GIABA; Mozambique with ESAAMLG; and South Africa, as an FATF member, with the FATF in coordination with ESAAMLG. For banks and cross-border businesses, this change may support recalibration of risk assessments and enhanced due diligence expectations for these markets, though local supervisory expectations and residual risks should still be monitored closely.

Bastian Schwind-Wagner_Follow "The FATF’s October 2025 Plenary signaled a sharper, results-focused push against illicit finance, unveiling new asset recovery guidance and a Horizon Scan on AI and deepfake risks. It also removed Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa from increased monitoring and adopted the first mutual evaluations of Belgium and Malaysia under the new methodology."

High-Risk Jurisdictions and Call for Action: Statement on Iran Updated

The FATF reiterated its call for enhanced due diligence — and, where merited, countermeasures — against high-risk jurisdictions with significant strategic deficiencies in combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. The Plenary updated its public statement on Iran. Firms should review the latest FATF advisory and ensure their sanctions screening, correspondent banking controls, and counterparty risk management reflect the current position, particularly concerning proliferation financing risks.

Strengthening Asset Recovery: New Guidance to Make Crime Unprofitable

A major deliverable from the Plenary is comprehensive new guidance on asset recovery. The guidance is designed to help countries implement the recently strengthened FATF Standards and close loopholes that allow criminal proceeds to escape confiscation, including across borders. It offers a more robust toolkit aimed at improving identification, tracing, freezing, and confiscation of assets.

Given historically low global recovery rates for criminal assets, the guidance — set for publication next month — could catalyze significant improvements in practical outcomes. Authorities are expected to enhance legal frameworks, adopt proactive investigative strategies (including extended confiscation and non-conviction-based approaches where appropriate), streamline mutual legal assistance, and reduce delays that erode asset values. Private sector actors should prepare for more assertive requests from competent authorities, reinforce beneficial ownership transparency, and strengthen controls around asset preservation orders. The FATF recently held a webinar on extended confiscation, reflecting the practical emphasis of this initiative.

AI and Deepfakes: Horizon Scan Highlights Emerging Risks

The Plenary approved a new Horizon Scan focused on current and potential future illicit finance risks stemming from AI, including generative models and agents, and the proliferation of deepfakes. The FATF warns that these technologies can be used to scale cyber-enabled fraud, impersonation, and social engineering, as well as to automate mule recruitment and facilitate synthetic identity creation.

The upcoming Horizon Scan will offer case studies for governments and the private sector to consider when strengthening safeguards and using AI responsibly. Compliance leaders should anticipate guidance encouraging robust model governance, data provenance checks, liveness detection for KYC, anomaly detection for payment fraud, and controls around automated decisioning. Financial institutions should also review incident response and red-teaming practices, focusing on deepfake-resistant authentication and customer communication verification, and ensure staff training addresses AI-driven threats.

Strengthening the Global Network: Guest Initiative Expands

Jamaica and Nigeria participated for the first time in Plenary and Working Group meetings under the FATF’s Guest Initiative, joining Kenya. The initiative aims to deepen cohesion across the Global Network and broaden regional perspectives. More diverse participation can help align supervisory expectations and improve the global consistency of standards application, which is increasingly vital as financial crime typologies evolve and cross borders rapidly.

Membership Issues: Suspension of the Russian Federation Continues

The FATF confirmed that the suspension of the membership of the Russian Federation remains in effect, in line with the statement issued in February 2024. Firms should continue to consider the implications for cross-border operations, correspondent networks, and exposure to Russian entities, aligning with both FATF and national regulatory positions.

What This Means for Compliance and Enforcement

• Expect more outcome-focused supervision. The new mutual evaluation round prioritizes tangible impact. Regulators are likely to push for demonstrable results in asset recovery, beneficial ownership transparency, STR quality, and cross-border cooperation.
• Calibrate jurisdictional risk. The removal of Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa from increased monitoring is positive but does not negate residual risk. Institutions should update risk assessments, watch for follow-up reporting through GIABA/ESAAMLG/FATF channels, and keep controls proportional.
• Prepare for aggressive asset recovery actions. With new guidance imminent, law enforcement may intensify freezing and confiscation efforts. Firms should ensure readiness to respond to asset requests, prevent dissipation through rapid internal holds, and document decisions for audit trails.
• Strengthen defenses against AI-enabled fraud. Introduce layered identity verification (including biometric liveness checks), monitor for synthetic identities, deploy behavioral analytics for transaction monitoring, and establish processes to verify suspicious communications when deepfake risks are suspected.
• Refresh policies on high-risk jurisdictions. Review enhanced due diligence policies and countermeasure triggers, and ensure consistency with the updated FATF statement on Iran. Document risk-based rationales for onboarding decisions and ongoing relationship reviews.

The October 2025 Plenary underscores FATF’s push for practical, measurable impact — making crime unprofitable through better asset recovery and staying ahead of fast-evolving technology risks. With new guidance and evaluations coming online, financial institutions should move quickly to align controls, update risk frameworks, and engage with supervisors to demonstrate effectiveness over the next three years.

Dive deeper

• FATF ¦ Outcomes FATF Plenary, 22-24 October 2025 ¦ Link
• FATF ¦ Video: October 2025 Plenary Press Conference ¦ Link (YouTube)
• FATF ¦ Webinar: Demystifying Extended Confiscation ¦ Link
• FATF ¦ High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action - 24 October 2025 ¦ Link