FATF

Switzerland has approved its first comprehensive national strategy for fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, the country’s Federal Council announced Friday. 

Gaps in the international oversight of offshore virtual-asset firms have made it possible for criminals to commit large-scale fraud, money laundering, and terrorism financing beyond the reach of most supervisory bodies, according to FATF.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said that stablecoins are now commonly used in money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing schemes, and warned that peer-to-peer transfers via unhosted wallets represent a key vulnerability for the crypto ecosystem. 

Cyber-enabled fraud is rapidly expanding in scale and sophistication as criminals exploit digital platforms, instant payments, and virtual assets to move illicit proceeds across borders, an intergovernmental watchdog said on Tuesday.  

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to its “grey list” of countries under closer monitoring, saying both have pledged to fix weaknesses in their safeguards against illicit money flows. 

Sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies, South Africa and Nigeria, were delisted Friday from a global watchdog’s roster of jurisdictions under increased monitoring for illicit money flows, alongside Mozambique and Burkina Faso.