FATF
The FATF (Financial Action Task Force) is the inter-governmental body that sets global standards on tackling money laundering and terrorist financing and monitors whether jurisdictions implement those standards effectively. HM Treasury's advisory notice, updated 22 June 2026, describes the FATF as including 38 member jurisdictions and two regional organisations, the European Commission and the Gulf Co-operation Council. The UK is a founding member.
The FATF's standards are implemented through national law and regulation rather than as a self-executing treaty. Member and associated jurisdictions are evaluated for technical compliance and effectiveness. Where strategic deficiencies persist, the FATF publishes lists of Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring and High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, updated after Plenary meetings.
How FATF standards are used on bank EF, PF and CRE desks
Bank desks do not contract with the FATF. They implement national AML and counter-terrorist financing rules that transpose FATF recommendations into customer onboarding, ongoing monitoring and escalation. In practice that means customer due diligence and KYC on borrowers, guarantors, UBO controllers and other parties to export, project and real-estate facilities; risk-sensitive enhanced diligence where geography or product elevates risk; and escalation pathways that sit beside, but are distinct from, sanctions screening and adverse media screening.
Under the UK Money Laundering Regulations as described by HM Treasury, regulated firms must apply enhanced customer due diligence and enhanced ongoing monitoring to business relationships and relevant transactions involving persons established in jurisdictions named on the FATF lists that the Regulations incorporate. From 30 June 2026, amending regulations narrow the automatic enhanced-diligence trigger for listed jurisdictions to High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, while firms must still treat FATF mutual evaluations as a geographical risk factor and apply enhanced measures wherever they identify high money-laundering or terrorist-financing risk.
Lists, membership and institutional boundaries
The 22 June 2026 HM Treasury notice reproduces the then-current FATF Increased Monitoring and Call for Action lists and reminds firms that some listed jurisdictions are also subject to separate financial sanctions regimes. List membership is a jurisdiction-level AML/CTF assessment outcome, not a sanctions designation by itself. Conversely, sanctions programmes can apply to countries or persons that are not on FATF lists.
The FATF is a standard-setter and peer-review body, not a supervisor of individual banks and not a sanctions authority. National supervisors and financial intelligence units enforce local implementing rules. For credit officers the operational output is the bank's AML policy stack: risk assessment, CDD depth, enhanced measures for listed geographies, and documentation sufficient to evidence compliance when facilities are originated or amended.