Barbados, Namibia and Thailand are the newest jurisdictions brought into the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Guest Initiative, a move announced on 21 August 2026. Their inclusion extends a programme launched in 2024 to broaden the range of countries involved in shaping the world's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing rules.
Starting with the October 2026 Plenary, the three countries will attend FATF meetings for the next twelve months, representing themselves. That gives them a direct channel into the technical discussions that produce the FATF Standards.
Widening the standard-setting table
The initiative targets jurisdictions under-represented in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), addressing a long-standing structural imbalance in which countries subject to global standards have little direct influence over their formulation. FATF President Giles Thomson welcomed the new participants, alongside official remarks from Barbados Attorney-General Wilfred Abrahams, Namibia Financial Intelligence Centre Director Bryan Eiseb, and Thailand Anti-Money Laundering Office Secretary-General Theppasu Bavornchotidara.
Barbados, Namibia, and Thailand join a growing roster of participating jurisdictions, following the earlier induction of the Cayman Islands, Senegal, Kenya, Jamaica, and Nigeria.
Bringing more jurisdictions directly into FATF meetings gives regulators in under-represented regions a say in standards that will later govern their financial systems, and signals a broader push to make global AML and CFT rule-making more representative.
