The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will publish its mutual evaluation report on Mexico in December 2026, the first since 2018, together with a roadmap of key actions to be completed over three years, according to El CEO. The country reaches that date outside the grey list, a listing that today brings together 18 jurisdictions, among them Venezuela, Vietnam and Lebanon.
The decision was taken at the FATF plenary held in Paris from 28 to 30 October, where the body adopted the reports on Mexico and the United States, according to Proceso. The documents are released after a quality and consistency review. Mexico's fifth evaluation round began in 2025 and a mission from the body visited the country in March 2026 to review its mechanisms against money laundering and terrorist financing. For Mexico and Latin America the result weighs on financial reputation: the grey list, which also includes Bolivia and Haiti, subjects countries to intensified monitoring and periodic reporting to the body.
The report measures effectiveness, not only regulatory compliance: international cooperation, financial intelligence, investigations and judicial actions. Mexico has recently approved anti-money laundering laws, but the body asks it to show their implementation through concrete actions. Ramón Cabrera León, managing partner at Spetsen, notes that the FATF seeks measurable results, such as rulings, convictions, seized assets and asset forfeiture. Paulina Verástegui Lira, a consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank, told El CEO that the body promotes collaboration between government and the private sector and the use of technology to identify illicit flows. In the private sector the expectation is positive: José Marcos Ramírez Miguel, chief executive of Grupo Financiero Banorte, told Proceso that he expects good news for Mexico. The adoption of the documents in October does not amount to a favorable rating; the conclusions remain confidential.
The December publication starts the roadmap clock: the FATF will define whether Mexico continues under ordinary or intensified follow-up, the category it has been in since 2018, and will set the milestones the country will report on over the following three years.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.