Sri Lanka faces risks of being grey-listed by FATF, affecting banking relationships and investment By Raj Moorthy View(s): View(s):Sri Lanka is at a crucial juncture of potentially being sanctioned or blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) due to deficiencies in Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) measures, affecting international banking and foreign investment, a top official from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka told this week. The upcoming third mutual evaluation will assess Sri Lanka’s AML/CFT effectiveness, especially concerning virtual assets. She also mentioned that FATF has 40 recommendations, with Sri Lanka adhering to mutual evaluations via the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering. “Sri Lanka’s compliance is evolving, with particular focus on recommendation 15 regarding virtual assets. He also highlighted that cryptocurrencies are a significant and rapidly evolving part of the global financial landscape with profound implications for emerging markets like Sri Lanka.

Source: Sunday Times February 01, 2026 03:20 UTC