The Commission has today updated the Handbook on Countering Financial Crime (AML/CFT/CPF) (the “Handbook”) to add Kuwait and amend Papua New Guinea’s entry on the Appendix I list of higher risk jurisdictions. This is following the Financial Action Task Force’s (“FATF”) decision to include them in its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.
The Commission wishes to remind all licensees that a jurisdiction’s inclusion on Appendix I does not automatically make business relationships with a connection to that jurisdiction high risk. Licensees should consider the nature and materiality of that jurisdictional link in their risk assessment, particularly where the change in the jurisdictional risk has little or no impact on other relevant risk factors within the business relationship, such as the type of customer, the customer or beneficial owner’s risk profile, activities, source of wealth and funds, or to the product or service offered by the licensee.
The clean and tracked version of the Handbook (including Appendix I) can be accessed via the Handbook page, with Appendix I available on the Notices, Instructions & Warnings page.
The FATF page on High-Risk and Other Monitored Jurisdictions can be found here.
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