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FATF Plenary Outcomes: Fraud Prevention, New Publications, Monitoring

FATF Outcomes & Publications

Published February 28th, 2026

Detected March 13th, 2026

Summary

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published the outcomes of its February 2026 Plenary meeting. Key initiatives include enhanced efforts to combat fraudsters, the release of new publications, and increased monitoring of member countries' compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards.

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What changed

The FATF Plenary outcomes document details key decisions and initiatives from the February 2026 meeting, focusing on strengthening global efforts against financial crime. Notably, the FATF has announced new strategies to combat fraudsters and has released updated publications to guide member states. The outcomes also indicate an increased level of monitoring for countries regarding their adherence to FATF standards, suggesting a more rigorous approach to compliance and enforcement in the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) space.

Regulated entities, particularly financial institutions and those involved in international trade, should review the new publications and be prepared for potentially heightened scrutiny from national authorities implementing FATF recommendations. While specific compliance deadlines are not detailed in this summary, the emphasis on increased monitoring implies that entities should proactively ensure their AML/CTF frameworks are robust and aligned with the latest FATF guidance. Failure to comply with evolving international standards could lead to reputational damage and potential sanctions from national regulators.

What to do next

Review new FATF publications for updated guidance on fraud prevention and AML/CTF standards.
Assess internal AML/CTF policies and procedures for alignment with FATF recommendations.
Prepare for potential increased scrutiny from national regulators regarding compliance with international standards.

Source document (simplified)

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Outcomes FATF Plenary, 11-13 February 2026

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Plenary Meeting

Mexico City, 13 February 2026

The fifth Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary meeting under the Mexican Presidency of Elisa de Anda Madrazo concluded today, with action agreed to help stop fraudsters and other criminals from profiting from illicit activity.

Delegates from the FATF’s Global Network of more than 200 jurisdictions and observers gathered in Mexico City for three days of constructive discussions to address the latest illicit finance risks.

The Plenary adopted assessment reports of Austria, Italy and Singapore under the new round of mutual evaluations. This follows the first two FATF reports published under the new round in December 2025.

The FATF also approved new publications on cyber-enabled fraud and virtual assets. In support of responsible technological innovation, these projects will help countries stay alert to evolving threats and harness technology to mitigate against risks.

The Plenary appointed Mr. Giles Thomson of the United Kingdom as the incoming President of the FATF (July 2026 – June 2028).

Compliance with the FATF Standards

High-risk

and other Monitored Jurisdictions

Jurisdictions under increased monitoring

These jurisdictions (Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring - 13 February 2026) are actively working with the FATF and the Global Network to address the strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to implement an Action Plan to swiftly resolve the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes.

At this Plenary, the FATF added Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.

Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action

The FATF identifies countries or jurisdictions with serious strategic deficiencies to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. These jurisdictions are subject to a call for action (High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action - 13 February 2026) to protect the international financial system.

The FATF has updated its public statement on Iran.

Mutual Evaluations of Austria, Italy and Singapore

The Plenary discussed and adopted reports of the FATF mutual evaluations of Austria (led by the International Monetary Fund) and Italy, and the joint FATF-Asia-Pacific Group (APG) mutual evaluation of Singapore. These assessed the effectiveness of the countries’ measures to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, and compliance with the FATF Recommendations. The reports will be published in April – May 2026 following a global quality and consistency review.

The new, more risk-based assessments, place greater emphasis on countries’ results in tackling money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. Under the new round of assessments, relevant countries will have a timebound Roadmap of Key Recommended Actions to strengthen the effectiveness of their defences against illicit finance within three years.

Strategic Initiatives

Tackling

cyber-enabled fraud

The FATF approved a paper on cyber-enabled fraud which highlights the escalating fraud threat facing the globe, and the harm done to victims. As fraudsters continue to make use of digital innovations to accelerate the scale, speed, and complexity of fraud, partners across the anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing and proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF) regime must also leverage innovative techniques to better prevent fraud, return victims’ money and bring perpetrators to justice. Recognising these evolving threats, FATF has committed to focusing on fraud over the next few years.

Virtual assets

As technology continues to evolve and in recognition of the inherently cross-border nature of virtual assets, the Plenary approved two new reports, to be published next month, that will help countries address emerging risks and support responsible innovation in finance.

A report on Understanding and Mitigating the Risk of Offshore Virtual Asset Service Providers (oVASPs) will explore risks associated with the unregulated provision of offshore VASP services. The report will look at how gaps and differences in regulatory and supervisory coverage are exploited by criminals and set out what governments can do to address this.

A Targeted Report on Stablecoins and Unhosted Wallets will examine emerging risks associated with stablecoins, which have grown rapidly in global scale, reach and importance in recent years. It makes recommendations to help countries and the private sector mitigate risks, including where stablecoins are being moved through peer-to-peer transactions.

Setting the Strategic Priorities for 2026-2028

In preparation for the next biennium, delegates discussed and agreed specific areas of focus for the FATF to deliver on its mandate to help jurisdictions keep pace with evolving threats and ensure that crime does not pay.

The FATF’s Strategic Priorities will be presented to FATF Ministers for endorsement at the upcoming FATF Ministerial meeting in April.

FATF Presidency 2026-2028

This week, the Plenary decided to appoint Mr Giles Thomson **** of the United Kingdom **** as the next President of the FATF, for a fixed two-year term.

FATF members took this decision following a comprehensive process which included consultations with all delegations. Mr Thomson, who has served as Vice-President of the FATF since 1 July 2025, will take up duties on 1 July 2026, the day after the two-year Presidency of Ms Elisa de Anda Madrazo concludes.

Cohesion across the Global Network

This week, the Plenary agreed on a set of measures to increase FATF-Style Regional Bodies’ (FSRBs) voice and participation in FATF’s work. This will ensure continued strengthening of and greater cohesion across the Global Network of over 200 jurisdictions to help achieve shared objectives and priorities of combatting illicit finance.

Membership Issues

The FATF suspension of the Russian Federation continues to stand (see February 2024 statement).

Related materials

13 Feb 2026

Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring - 13 February 2026 Jurisdictions under increased monitoring are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
The FATF now also identifies Kuwait and Papua New Guinea.
- 13 Feb 2026

High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action - 13 February 2026 High-risk jurisdictions have significant strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation. For all countries identified as high-risk, the FATF calls on all members and urges all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence, and, in the most serious cases, countries are called upon to apply countermeasures to protect the international financial system from the money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing (ML/TF/PF) risks emanating from the country.

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Photos of the meeting are available on Flickr.