FATF adopts U.S., Mexico reviews and tightens focus on Iran, digital assets

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FATF tightens on Iran & digital assets

Highlights

The FATF adopted Mutual Evaluation Reports of the United States and Mexico, while reiterating calls for global countermeasures and restrictions targeting Iran's financial activity.
The FATF agreed to intensify actions against scam compounds in Southeast Asia, aiming for coordinated disruption and expanding oversight to protect vulnerable populations and the broader financial system.
A targeted FATF review will scrutinize jurisdictions with persistent deficiencies in virtual asset regulation, setting up new accountability measures to combat money laundering and illicit activity via exchanges.

Plenary decisions shape enforcement agenda

As reported by U.S. Department of the Treasury, senior Treasury officials lead a U.S. government delegation to the Financial Action Task Force plenary meetings in Paris last week, where the body adopts the Mutual Evaluation Reports of the United States and Mexico and agrees on several new enforcement priorities.

The FATF, the global standard-setting body for countering money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, also reiterates its call for countries to impose countermeasures on Iran. It says all nations should implement reimposed United Nations Security Council resolutions tied to Iran's ongoing lack of compliance with its nuclear agreements.

The body further reminds jurisdictions to restrict correspondent banking, digital asset transactions and business relationships with Iran. Those steps keep Iran on the FATF blacklist and reinforce the compliance burden for financial institutions with cross-border exposure.

Scam compounds and digital assets draw fresh scrutiny

The FATF also adopts a report on the financial flows supporting scam compounds in Southeast Asia, laying the groundwork for a more coordinated international response to fraud. The organization says it plans to use its tools more forcefully to disrupt the networks, press jurisdictions that fail to address the risks and protect victims and the wider financial system.

Treasury links the issue to harm affecting older and vulnerable Americans, while noting that the Trump Administration has already taken sanctions actions aimed at stopping the fraud. That gives the scam-center issue a broader policy dimension beyond regional law enforcement.

On digital assets, the FATF agrees to launch a targeted review of jurisdictions with longstanding deficiencies in the virtual assets sector. The review is set to define decision points for the next plenary on how the FATF can strengthen accountability for systemic weaknesses that allow fraudsters, drug traffickers and proliferators to launder funds through exchanges.

Our earlier article on Malaysia’s Menarabena construction platform examined how the sector is digitising procurement while tightening certification and compliance checks for building materials, including imported products. We also noted the role of CIDB-linked approvals and documentation requirements, and how the platform aims to improve supply-chain efficiency without replacing existing regulatory certifications.

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