U.S. Treasury Says FATF Adopted Mutual Evaluations of U.S. and Mexico, Approved Report on Southeast Asian Scam Centers

Washington

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said on Nov. 6 (local time) that at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris, the FATF adopted mutual evaluation reports on the United States and Mexico and approved a report on money flows linked to Southeast Asian scam centers. The Treasury said the FATF recognized the effectiveness of the U.S. anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) system. Iran remains on the FATF blacklist.

In a press release, the Treasury said: “Last week, senior Treasury officials led the U.S. government delegation to the FATF plenary.”

Source: Treasury announces outcomes of FATF plenary

Outcomes of the Paris plenary, as described by the Treasury

The FATF is the body that sets international standards for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. According to the Treasury, this was the first plenary held under the United Kingdom’s presidency. The Treasury said the FATF adopted the mutual evaluation reports on the United States and Mexico, reaffirmed its call for countermeasures against Iran, agreed to produce a new report on scam centers, and decided to accelerate worldwide implementation of its digital asset standards.

U.S. and Mexico mutual evaluations adopted

In the title of its press release, the Treasury described the outcome as “FATF Recognizes Effectiveness of U.S. AML/CFT System.” A mutual evaluation is a peer-review process that examines how effectively a member country runs its anti-money laundering regime. The Treasury said the FATF adopted the reports on the United States and Mexico but did not give specific ratings.

In its plenary outcomes notice, the FATF gave the dates of the plenary as Oct. 28-30. The U.S. assessment was carried out jointly by the FATF, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) and the Caribbean FATF (CFATF), while the Mexico assessment was handled by the FATF and the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT). The FATF plans to publish both reports in December after quality and consistency reviews.

Iran stays on blacklist; countermeasures

The Treasury said Iran remains on the FATF blacklist. The FATF urged all countries to implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions that were reimposed over Iran’s non-compliance with the nuclear deal. The FATF again reminded all jurisdictions to apply countermeasures restricting correspondent banking, digital asset transactions and business relationships with Iran.

The Treasury is continuing sanctions on the Iranian regime’s financial networks under “Operation Economic Outcast,” which began in August.

Report on Southeast Asian scam center money flows

The FATF adopted a report analyzing money flowing into scam centers. The Treasury called the report “landmark” and said it lays the foundation for a stronger, more coordinated global response to scams. According to the Treasury, the FATF will use the analysis to pursue more decisive action to disrupt criminal networks using every available tool. The Treasury said the FATF’s position is that jurisdictions that fail to address these scam centers will be held accountable, and that victims and the international financial system will be protected.

The Treasury said scams run out of scam centers often target elderly and vulnerable Americans. It said the Trump administration has taken a series of sanctions actions to stop them.

Review of jurisdictions vulnerable on virtual assets

The FATF decided to begin a targeted review of certain jurisdictions with long-standing deficiencies in the virtual asset sector. The Treasury said the review will set out decision points for the next plenary to determine which accountability tools the FATF could use against jurisdictions whose structural weaknesses allow fraudsters, drug trafficking organizations and proliferation financiers to launder funds through exchanges.

Nov. 5 sanctions linked to Prince Group

On Nov. 5, a day before the plenary outcomes were announced, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four individuals and 41 entities that underpin the business network of the Prince Group transnational criminal organization (TCO). The Prince Group had previously been sanctioned by the United States over cyber fraud, money laundering and human trafficking. The Treasury said people linked to the organization earned billions of dollars in illicit proceeds from online scams run out of scam centers in Southeast Asia using victims of human trafficking and forced labor. The same day, OFAC also designated Chui Kok Wa, a Malaysian national who ran a scam network in Madagascar, Africa. The Treasury said the network took more than $400,000 in digital assets from Americans.

“Cyber scam syndicates continue to steal billions of dollars from American victims while relying on sophisticated international business networks to launder it,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “The Treasury will dismantle every layer of these organizations, from their leadership to the corporate structures and financial facilitators that allow them to operate unchecked,” Bessent said.

The Treasury said the action follows designations on Oct. 14, 2025, and June 23, 2026, targeting Prince Group leadership, affiliates and financial facilitators. Among those designated, the Treasury said, Qiu Yong controls companies in the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong and holds Cambodian, Saint Lucia and Turkish passports. The Treasury identified Hong Kong-based lender Premium Financial Limited, among others, as owned by Qiu Yong.

The Treasury said it also designated Cambodian national He Yujing and Cambodian businessperson Visal Pang. He Yujing is the wife of Chen Bo, a Prince Group executive designated on June 23, 2026, and the Treasury said Chen Bo took over ownership of a Tokyo mansion. Pang controls 11 Cambodian companies and jointly runs several of them with Chen Bo. The Treasury said Chen Bo continues to control 11 Cambodian entities, including the airline Prince International Airlines. The Treasury also targeted Singapore-based Chen Hua Holdings, Mauritius-based Meritwise Group and Malaysia-based Greenmeadows Properties, which are owned or directed by Dai An, a senior Prince Group figure designated on June 23, along with Singapore-based Greenbay Multi Media, 100 percent owned by Thet Li, who was designated in October 2025. The Treasury said Prince Group leader Chen Zhi was designated on Oct. 14, 2025.

Source: Treasury sanctions global scam networks and corporate infrastructure (Nov. 5)

Federal law enforcement crackdown on scam centers

The Treasury said the Nov. 5 action follows Executive Order 14390, “Countering Cyber Crime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens,” signed by President Trump on March 6. With that order, President Trump directed the government to use all available tools to stop foreign-backed criminal networks from exploiting vulnerable Americans. The Treasury said it carried out the action in coordination with the FBI’s New York and Honolulu field offices, the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska. The British Virgin Islands Financial Investigation Agency and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also cooperated.

On Oct. 13, the FBI announced on X the results of “Operation Blackout,” its operation to dismantle scam centers. The FBI said it seized about $17 billion worth of assets and virtual assets, arrested hundreds of suspected fraudsters and rescued thousands of workers who were victims of human trafficking.

https://x.com/FBI/status/2110105861112619274

Same day: MEXC Global blocked

On Nov. 6, the same day the FATF outcomes were announced, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an order that effectively cuts the cryptocurrency exchange MEXC Global off from U.S. financial networks. The Treasury said MEXC Global was involved in moving at least $16 billion in funds linked to sanctions evasion by Iran, North Korea and Russia and to cybercrime between May 2021 and May 2026. The Treasury said the exchange served as a channel for ransomware and scam payments.

The Treasury described MEXC Global as one of the world’s top 20 cryptocurrency exchanges, founded in 2018, with daily trading volume of more than $1 billion and about $5 billion in reserves as of September 2026. Although the exchange bans use from restricted jurisdictions such as Iran and North Korea in its terms of service, the Treasury said it allowed individuals and entities from those jurisdictions to trade because of serious deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls. The FinCEN order bars U.S. financial institutions from processing fund transfers involving MEXC Global.

Source: Treasury cuts off MEXC Global’s access to U.S. financial networks (Nov. 6)

Sources (KST)

• U.S. Treasury · 2026-11-06 (local) 2026-11-07 (KST) · FATF Recognizes Effectiveness of U.S. AML/CFT System, Advances Key Illicit Finance Initiatives · https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0687
• FATF · 2026-10-30 · Outcomes FATF Plenary, 28-30 October 2026 · https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Fatfgeneral/outcomes-fatf-plenary-october-2026.html
• U.S. Treasury · 2026-11-05 (local) · Treasury Targets Global Scam Networks and the Corporate Infrastructure That Enables Them · https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0683
• U.S. Treasury · 2026-11-06 (local) · Operation Economic Outcast Severs MEXC Global's Access to the U.S. Financial System · https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0685
• FBI on X @FBI · 2026-10-13 · https://x.com/FBI/status/2110105861112619274