October 2025 FATF Grey List Update: Tracking the Countries That Earned their Way Off the Grey List

Executive Summary: 

• Grey List: South Africa, Nigeria, Mozambique, Burkina Faso removed from the Grey List in October 2025. 

• Black List: No additions or removals of jurisdictions. 

• Impact: Ease of conducting business with newly removed jurisdictions 

• Actions now: Re-assess geographic risk, conduct Customer Risk Assessment (CRA) refresh, apprise and train customer-facing teams 

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its most recent Grey List Update following the October 2025 Plenary meeting. This infographic visually represents the updated list of countries under increased monitoring and highlights the key changes resulting from the removal of four countries from the Grey List. 

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a globally recognised inter-governmental body that sets the standards for Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and Counter-Proliferation Financing (CPF) through its 40 Recommendations. These standards guide both national and international efforts to prevent financial crimes and safeguard the integrity of global financial system. 

FATF Grey List as of 24th October 2025

Following the FATF’s October 2025 announcement, some countries have been removed from the FATF Grey List after demonstrating significant progress in strengthening their AML/CFT frameworks and achieving sustained compliance with FATF’s action plan. 

The revised FATF Grey List now includes fewer countries under increased monitoring, marking a notable step towards global AML/CFT progress. 

FATF Greylist as of 24th October 2025
1. Algeria	2. Angola	3. Bolivia	4. Bulgaria	5. Cameroon
6. Côte d’Ivoire	7. Democratic Republic of Congo	8. Haiti	9. Kenya	10. Lao PDR
11. Lebanon	12. Monaco	13. Namibia	14. Nepal	15. South Sudan
16. Syria	17. Venezuela	18. Vietnam	19. Virgin Islands (UK)	20. Yemen

On 24th October 2025, the FATF officially announced the removal of Nigeria, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, and South Africa from the Grey List. 

This decision followed rigorous mutual evaluations confirming that these jurisdictions have successfully strengthened their AML/CFT regulatory regimes and demonstrated effective implementation of risk-based controls. 

Key Takeaways from the October 2025 Grey List Update 

For Financial Institutions (FIs), Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs), and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), this update serves as a reminder to ensure continued alignment with FATF standards.  

Entities under AML, CFT and CPF regulatory purview should now review and adjust their compliance frameworks to reflect the latest FATF Grey List changes. This includes updating their compliance software such as: 

• Name Screening Software – ensuring Sanctions, Terrorism, PEP, and Adverse Media checks reflect the latest jurisdictional changes. 

• Customer Due Diligence Software – recalibrating country risk scores in line with FATF Update. 

• Customer Risk Assessment Software – adjusting parameters for high-risk and monitored jurisdictions 

• Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment Software – refining enterprise-level risk mapping to reflect the current global compliance environment. 

Maintaining this alignment helps institutions ensure proportionate, risk-based controls and demonstrate their ongoing commitment to global AML/CFT compliance standards.