Financial security · October 30, 2026
FinCEN highlights FATF list changes and cautions against blanket de-risking
Published October 30, 2026 · Official FinCEN notice
What changed
FinCEN’s October 30 notice says FATF removed Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Monaco from increased monitoring. The international body’s high-risk list remains Iran, North Korea and Burma (Myanmar).
The distinctions matter
FATF continues to call for countermeasures concerning Iran and North Korea. For Burma, it calls for enhanced due diligence, rather than countermeasures. These categories should not be treated as interchangeable.
FinCEN reminds U.S. financial institutions to consider the changes in their risk-based controls. It also warns against wholesale or indiscriminate withdrawal of services from entire customer classes.
What this does not mean
Removal from increased monitoring is not a declaration that every transaction is risk-free, nor does it erase separate sanctions or U.S. legal obligations. A jurisdiction’s listing is likewise not proof that an individual customer finances terrorism.
The notice is relevant to counterterrorism financing because it explains changes in international risk monitoring while preserving the distinction between targeted safeguards and blanket exclusion.