Which countries are on the FATF, EU and UN lists as of September 2026, and how we treat clients connected with them: refusal, extra checks or case review.
Applies to: HK, EU/EEA, UK, SG, VN, US, Other
In plain language
- Last reviewed 6 October 2026. We review this page after every FATF plenary and EU update.
- FATF black list (19 June 2026): DPRK and Iran (countermeasures); Myanmar (enhanced checks).
- FATF grey list (19 June 2026): 22 jurisdictions, including Vietnam, Bulgaria and the Virgin Islands (UK).
- EU anti-money laundering list (in force 29 January 2026): 26 countries, including the BVI, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
- EU tax list (17 February 2026): 10 jurisdictions, including Anguilla, Panama, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.
- We screen every client, director, shareholder and beneficial owner against sanctions lists.
- We refuse designated persons and clients connected with the DPRK, Iran or Myanmar.
- For other listed countries, including Vietnam, we take the listing into account in our risk assessment and apply extra checks where the risk is higher.
This summary helps you read the document. If it differs from the full text below, the full text applies.
1. Why we publish this page
One IBC Limited holds Hong Kong TCSP licence TC001305. Hong Kong law requires us to check every client against sanctions lists and to apply extra checks where the risk is higher.
This page lists the international lists we use as of September 2026 and explains how we treat clients connected with the countries on them. It was last reviewed on 6 October 2026.
Lists change several times a year. We review this page after each FATF plenary (February, June and October) and after each EU update. The dated official source is linked under each list. Our screening always uses the current official lists, even where this page has not yet been updated. These lists are issued and changed by the FATF, the EU, the UN and governments, over time and as events happen. We are not responsible for those changes, or for decisions that banks, registries or other third parties take because of them. Always check the official source for the current position.
2. FATF high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action
As of the FATF statement of 19 June 2026, the FATF calls on all countries to apply countermeasures to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran.
For Myanmar, the FATF calls for enhanced due diligence proportionate to the risk, not countermeasures.
This list is often called the "black list". It did not change at the June 2026 plenary.
3. FATF jurisdictions under increased monitoring
As of 19 June 2026, 22 jurisdictions are under increased monitoring, often called the "grey list": Angola, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Monaco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam, the Virgin Islands (UK) and Yemen.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iraq were added in June 2026. Algeria and Namibia were removed.
The FATF says it does not call for enhanced due diligence on these jurisdictions and does not want whole groups of customers cut off. It asks countries and firms to take the listing into account in their risk assessment. We do that case by case.
4. EU list of high-risk third countries for anti-money laundering
Firms in the EU must apply enhanced due diligence to business involving these countries. The list is in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675, last amended by Delegated Regulations (EU) 2026/46 and 2026/83, in force since 29 January 2026.
Countries with an FATF action plan: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bolivia, the British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Monaco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, South Sudan, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.
Countries named in FATF public statements: Iran and the DPRK. Country with suspended FATF membership: the Russian Federation.
The EU list does not always match the FATF list on the same day. This matters to you because EU banks and our licensed local partners in the EU must apply the EU list.
5. EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
As of the Council update of 17 February 2026, Annex I lists 10 jurisdictions: American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Panama, the Russian Federation, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.
Viet Nam and the Turks and Caicos Islands were added in February 2026. Fiji, Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago were removed.
This is a tax list, not a sanctions list. EU countries apply defensive tax and reporting measures to it, and some banks apply extra checks. We tell you before you pay if a listing is likely to affect your company.
6. UN Security Council sanctions implemented in Hong Kong
Hong Kong implements UN Security Council sanctions through regulations made under the United Nations Sanctions Ordinance (Cap. 537). Terrorist designations are implemented under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance (Cap. 575). Services linked to weapons of mass destruction are controlled under Cap. 526.
As of 28 August 2026, the Hong Kong Government publishes targeted financial sanctions lists for these UN regimes: Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the DPRK, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen. Other UN measures, such as arms embargoes, also apply to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.
It is an offence in Hong Kong to make funds or economic resources available to a designated person without a licence. We will not act for a designated person or for a company they own or control.
7. US, UK and EU sanctions
The United States (OFAC), the United Kingdom (OFSI and FCDO) and the European Union run their own sanctions programmes. Some go further than UN sanctions, for example on Russia, Belarus, Cuba and occupied regions of Ukraine.
Hong Kong law does not normally require us to apply other countries' sanctions. The Companies Registry expects licensees that operate internationally to understand them and act where they affect the business. Our banks, payment providers and local providers in the US, UK and EU must follow them, so in practice they affect whether we can act for you. One IBC America, Inc. is a company in the United States and must comply with OFAC sanctions directly.
Where One IBC Pte. Ltd carries out work in Singapore, it applies the sanctions and terrorism-financing lists that Singapore law requires, including those made under the United Nations Act 2001 and the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act 2002.
We screen every client, director, shareholder and beneficial owner against sanctions lists before we act, when the lists change and during the relationship. For screening we use recognised commercial databases, including World-Check, provided by LSEG (formerly Refinitiv). Banks and partners abroad apply their own sanctions, and we cannot act where they cannot.
8. How we treat clients connected with these countries
A client is "connected" with a country if the client, a director, shareholder or beneficial owner is a national or resident of it, or if the source of funds or the main business is located there. Choosing to form a company in a listed jurisdiction through us does not by itself make you connected with it, but we take that listing into account when we assess the file.
The rules below are our policy. Each case is decided by our compliance staff, not by software alone.
In short, there are three levels. Refuse: designated persons, clients connected with the DPRK, Iran or Myanmar, and business involving a territory under comprehensive sanctions. Enhanced due diligence with senior management approval: clients connected with Russia, Belarus or Syria, politically exposed persons from outside Hong Kong, and any other file our assessment rates as higher risk. Standard checks: all other clients, including clients connected with a listed country whose file is not rated higher risk.
- We refuse: anyone designated under UN sanctions implemented in Hong Kong, and any company they own or control.
- We refuse: clients connected with the DPRK, Iran or Myanmar.
- We refuse: business involving Cuba, Crimea or the other regions of Ukraine that are under comprehensive sanctions, and any other territory under comprehensive sanctions where our banks or licensed local partners cannot act.
- Case review with senior management approval: clients connected with Russia, Belarus or Syria. We act only where no designated person, sanctioned sector or sanctioned bank is involved and our banks and licensed local partners can act.
- Risk-based checks: for clients connected with a jurisdiction on the FATF grey list, the EU high-risk list or the EU tax list, we take the listing into account in our risk assessment. Where the assessment shows higher risk, as described in section 2 of our AML and KYC policy, we apply enhanced due diligence: we ask for more information about ownership, source of funds and source of wealth, and senior management approves the file. Vietnam is on all three lists.
We may decline any application where we cannot manage the risk, where a bank or local partner will not act, or where the information we receive is incomplete. We do not always give a reason.
9. What this means for you
If you are connected with a listed country, you can still contact us. Enhanced due diligence is a set of extra checks, not a refusal. Tell us early, so we can say whether we can help and what extra documents we will need.
Apart from the refusals listed in section 8, we do not take a final decision on your nationality or country alone. We look at the whole file. This page describes our policy. It does not give anyone a right to be accepted as a client.
If we cannot accept you after you have paid, our Refund policy applies, as far as the law allows. Where a sanctions law requires funds to be frozen or reported, we must follow the law first.
Sources
- High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action, 19 June 2026, FATF
- Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring, 19 June 2026, FATF
- FATF Public Statements (index, latest 19/06/2026), Companies Registry, Hong Kong (TCSP Registry)
- Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675, consolidated text of 29 January 2026, EUR-Lex
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/83 of 4 December 2025, EUR-Lex
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/46 of 3 December 2025, EUR-Lex
- Taxation: Council updates the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (17 February 2026), Council of the EU
- EU updates list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions (17 February 2026), European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union
- United Nations Security Council Sanctions (revised 28 August 2026), Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Hong Kong
- United Nations Sanctions (revised 9 May 2025), Trade and Industry Department, Hong Kong
- United Nations Sanctions Ordinance (Cap. 537), Department of Justice, Hong Kong (e-Legislation)
- United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance (Cap. 575), Department of Justice, Hong Kong (e-Legislation)
- Guideline on AML/CFT (for TCSP licensees), Companies Registry, Hong Kong
- UN Sanctions Committee: new resolutions and lists, Joint Financial Intelligence Unit
- Sanctions list search, US Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control
- UK sanctions list, UK Government (FCDO)
Laws and regulator guidance this document follows. They explain our obligations; they are not legal advice for your situation.
One IBC Limited · HK TCSP Licence TC001305 · Unit 1411, 14/F, COSCO Tower, 183 Queen's Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
One IBC Limited · HK TCSP Licence TC001305 · Unit 1411, 14/F, COSCO Tower, 183 Queen’s Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong