KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah chaired a meeting on August 20, 2026, to review observations and requirements linked to the Financial Action Task Force, as state authorities continue coordinating their response to international anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing standards.
According to reporting by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), the meeting examined the latest developments in coordination among relevant government bodies and measures aimed at strengthening Kuwait’s readiness to meet international requirements in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
The meeting included senior officials from the justice, commerce, energy and investment sectors, as well as the governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait and other government officials.
The discussions come while Kuwait remains on the Financial Action Task Force’s list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, commonly referred to as the FATF grey list. FATF says jurisdictions under increased monitoring have committed to addressing identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and are subject to additional monitoring.
According to FATF’s February 2026 increased-monitoring statement, Kuwait made a high-level political commitment to work with FATF and MENAFATF on an action plan addressing identified deficiencies. The action plan includes areas such as suspicious-transaction reporting in certain sectors, beneficial-ownership information and money-laundering investigations related to cross-border movements of currency and bearer negotiable instruments.
In its June 19, 2026 increased-monitoring statement, FATF said Kuwait remained on the list and had chosen to defer reporting at that plenary. FATF noted that, as a result, the previous statement was carried forward and might not fully reflect the most recent status of Kuwait’s anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing regime.
The August 20 government meeting therefore reflects continued domestic coordination on FATF requirements. It does not establish that Kuwait has completed its FATF action plan or has been removed from increased monitoring.
Any change to Kuwait’s FATF status would require confirmation through a subsequent official FATF statement.