The Financial Action Task Force decided on 30 October 2026 to remove Côte d’Ivoire from the jurisdictions under enhanced monitoring. Announced at the close of its plenary meeting in Paris, the decision follows an on-site visit judged conclusive and the completion of the action plan agreed with the organisation. It changes the international status of the Ivorian framework against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The removal also concerns Bulgaria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Monaco. For Côte d’Ivoire, it closes a process that began in October 2024. The country had then made a political commitment to address strategic deficiencies with the FATF and the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, GIABA.
The listing in 2024 followed a mutual evaluation adopted in June 2023. At the time, the FATF already acknowledged legislative and regulatory progress, strengthened financial intelligence and prosecution resources, and the start of operations of the agency responsible for seized and confiscated assets. However, the plan called for further demonstration of the effectiveness of these tools.
Progress in controls and investigations
In its new assessment, the FATF notes better use of international cooperation for investigations and prosecutions. It also recognises progress in risk-based supervision of the financial institutions and non-financial professions concerned, accompanied by awareness-raising actions on compliance obligations.
Company transparency is another central component. The organisation notes improved verification of, and access to, information on legal persons and their beneficial owners, as well as the application of sanctions in cases of violation. For actors subject to due diligence obligations, this information helps identify the individuals who actually control a company.
The assessment also covers better use of financial intelligence by investigative authorities. The FATF recognises a sustained increase in investigations and prosecutions for money laundering and terrorist financing, consistent with the country’s risks, as well as a strengthened framework of targeted financial sanctions.
An exit that preserves due diligence obligations
The scope of the decision must be assessed in light of how the grey list works. As early as 2024, the FATF stated that this monitoring did not, by itself, impose generalised enhanced due diligence or require the severing of relations with entire categories of customers. It called for a risk-based assessment. The exit therefore marks the completion of a remediation process, without announcing new funding or guaranteeing a reduction in transaction costs.
The end of enhanced monitoring does not close the compliance work. The plenary communiqué specifies that Côte d’Ivoire will continue its cooperation with GIABA in order to sustain the improvements to its system.