Keypoints:
- FATF says reforms are substantially complete
- October plenary could clear Cote d’Ivoire
- Delisting could ease investment friction
COTE d’Ivoire is closing in on removal from a global financial crime watchlist after international regulators concluded that the country had substantially strengthened bank supervision, corporate transparency and enforcement against money laundering.
The West African economy is among several jurisdictions that have reached the final assessment stage for possible removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, potentially clearing an important reputational hurdle for one of the region’s fastest-growing economies.
FATF said in June that Cote d’Ivoire had ‘substantially completed’ its action plan and authorised an on-site assessment — the final stage before a country can be removed from increased monitoring.
FATF’s next plenary is scheduled in Paris from October 26 to October 30, when Cote d’Ivoire could be considered for removal following its on-site assessment.
Final hurdle before delisting
Cote d’Ivoire entered the grey list in October 2024 after FATF identified strategic weaknesses in its systems for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
Since then, authorities have moved across six areas identified by FATF, including international co-operation, risk-based supervision of financial institutions, beneficial ownership verification and increased use of financial intelligence.
FATF also cited a sustained increase in money-laundering and terrorist-financing investigations and prosecutions, alongside stronger implementation of targeted financial sanctions.
That progress is significant because the watchdog had previously called for further improvements in enforcement, particularly evidence that authorities were conducting investigations and prosecutions covering a wider range of money-laundering offences.
By June 2026, however, FATF concluded that Cote d’Ivoire had substantially completed the reforms required under its action plan.
Ownership rules tighten
One of the most significant changes involves beneficial ownership — identifying the individuals who ultimately control companies and other legal entities.
Cote d’Ivoire has operationalised a central beneficial ownership register across all 40 competent jurisdictions, giving authorities electronic access to information on the individuals who ultimately control legal entities.
The IMF has also reported that authorities introduced a joint verification mechanism involving the tax administration and the Commercial Court of Abidjan to cross-check ownership information, while nearly all relevant institutions have been given access to the system.
That marks an important shift from simply collecting ownership declarations to attempting to verify whether the information provided is accurate.
Such verification matters because opaque corporate structures can be used to conceal proceeds from corruption, tax evasion, fraud, trafficking and organised crime behind apparently legitimate companies.
FATF’s assessment therefore goes beyond the creation of databases or the passage of new laws. Its on-site review is designed to determine whether the reforms are being implemented effectively and whether there is sufficient political and institutional commitment to sustain them.
Investment implications grow
Removal could strengthen Cote d’Ivoire’s reputation at a time when Abidjan is positioning the country as one of West Africa’s principal destinations for international capital.
The IMF expects economic growth of around 6 percent in 2026 after expansion of about 6.5 percent in 2025. It has also upgraded Cote d’Ivoire’s risk of debt distress from moderate to low following fiscal consolidation and wider economic reforms.
That improving macroeconomic picture sits alongside efforts to diversify beyond cocoa into mining, hydrocarbons, infrastructure, manufacturing and services.
Grey-listing does not mean FATF tells financial institutions to stop doing business with a country. FATF specifically says the designation should not automatically lead to blanket enhanced due diligence or the withdrawal of banking relationships.
But the designation can still influence how banks and investors assess compliance risk.
International institutions may conduct additional checks on transactions involving grey-listed jurisdictions, while compliance departments can demand more documentation before approving payments, investments or correspondent banking relationships.
Removing the FATF designation would therefore eliminate an important negative signal surrounding Cote d’Ivoire’s financial system.
Banks remain under scrutiny
Yet the clean-up remains incomplete.
The IMF said recent anti-money-laundering inspections of banks continued to identify weaknesses in customer due diligence and transaction monitoring, raising concerns about how effectively some institutions understand and manage illicit-finance risks.
It has recommended deeper sector-wide risk assessments and more thematic inspections to determine whether the problems are isolated or reflect broader weaknesses across the banking industry.
Those findings underline the difference between completing a FATF action plan and eliminating financial crime.
Delisting would mean FATF considers the strategic deficiencies that prompted increased monitoring to have been sufficiently addressed. It would not amount to a declaration that Cote d’Ivoire is free of money-laundering or terrorist-financing risks.
The challenge for regulators will therefore be ensuring that improved laws, databases and supervisory structures translate into consistent enforcement across banks and other financial institutions.
Maintaining that momentum after international monitoring ends could ultimately prove more important than the delisting itself.
Europe may take longer
There could also be a regulatory lag after any FATF decision.
Cote d’Ivoire remains on the European Union’s separate list of high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems.
A FATF exit would not automatically remove the country from the EU list.
Brussels would have to amend its own regulatory framework, meaning European financial institutions could continue applying enhanced measures for a period after FATF has cleared Cote d’Ivoire.
Recent experience shows that this process can take time. African countries previously removed from FATF monitoring have remained subject to separate EU procedures until Brussels formally updated its own list.
That distinction matters because Europe remains an important source of investment, banking relationships and trade for Cote d’Ivoire.
Africa’s grey list is shrinking
Cote d’Ivoire is not alone in approaching the final stage of FATF scrutiny.
In June, FATF also said Bulgaria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Monaco had substantially completed their respective action plans and qualified for final on-site assessments, subject to specific conditions.
The development follows a broader reduction in the number of major African economies under increased monitoring.
Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique and Burkina Faso were removed from the grey list in October 2025, while Algeria and Namibia followed in June 2026.
Cote d’Ivoire could become the next major African economy to complete the process.
Enforcement becomes the real test
The October plenary could determine whether FATF believes Cote d’Ivoire’s reforms are not only substantially complete but sustainable.
That makes enforcement the next frontier.
Authorities will have to demonstrate that beneficial ownership information remains accurate, suspicious transactions are properly investigated, supervisors continue challenging weak compliance and prosecutions produce credible results.
For investors, the significance extends beyond a technical regulatory classification.
An exit would remove one of the remaining reputational constraints on an economy already strengthening its sovereign credit profile and expanding its role as a regional financial and commercial hub.
But the lasting test will begin after FATF scrutiny ends.
Cote d’Ivoire will then have to prove that the strengthening of its financial system was not simply designed to secure removal from a watchlist, but to create institutions capable of resisting illicit finance over the long term.
