Democratic Republic of the Congo — Country Risk Report

Democratic Republic of the Congo (Africa • Central Africa). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

Very high country risk, with elevated corruption risk. Democratic Republic of the Congo's country risk score is 7.6/10, placing it in the very high-risk band. The principal driver is weak corruption, alongside rule of law and institutions risk. Democratic Republic of the Congo is subject to FATF increased monitoring. Democratic Republic of the Congo is not subject to comprehensive country-wide sanctions. Firms should apply additional scrutiny where exposure involves state-linked entities, restricted sectors, sensitive technology, dual-use goods or politically exposed counterparties.

Recommended treatment

Enhanced due diligence.

At a glance

• FATF status: Grey list (one indicator only; it does not set the overall country risk rating by itself)
• Comprehensive country sanctions: none identified. Targeted sanctions exposure: programmes in place, screen applicable lists
• Government effectiveness and rule of law: 7.2/10
• Corruption (CPI 2025): 20/100, rank #163 of 182
• Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

Country Risk Score: 7.6/10 (Very high)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Full information available. Some evidence is older. Enforcement activity and CPI are shown for context but do not change the score.

All three parts of the score are available.

How this score was calculated

• Financial crime controls: 8.4/10 — 50% of this score
• Government effectiveness and rule of law: 7.2/10 — 30% of this score
• International sanctions: 6.4/10 — 20% of this score
• The FATF assessment is more than five years old.
• FATF grey-list status sets a minimum of 6.0, but the calculated score was already higher.
• sector-wide international sanctions sets a minimum of 6.0, but the calculated score was already higher.

Principal risk drivers

• FATF increased-monitoring status
• Sectoral sanctions exposure
• Corruption (WGI) — 8.3/10
• Rule of law & institutions — 7.3/10
• Political stability — 7.0/10

Mitigating factors

• No comprehensive country-wide sanctions programme.
• Risk is concentrated in specific counterparties, sectors and transactions rather than applying uniformly.

Business impact

• Customer onboarding (Enhanced): Additional ownership and control verification may be required.
• Payments and transactions (Enhanced): Review transaction purpose, counterparties and geographic routing.
• Trade and export activity (Enhanced): Screen goods, end users and potential dual-use exposure.
• Corporate clients (Enhanced): Assess state ownership, government links and political exposure.
• Ongoing monitoring (Enhanced): Apply alerts for ownership changes, sanctions and geopolitical developments.

Recommended controls

• Verify ultimate beneficial ownership using more than one reliable source.
• Identify state ownership, government influence and politically exposed persons.
• Screen entities, directors and beneficial owners against applicable sanctions lists.
• Apply enhanced review to technology, defence, telecommunications, financial services and dual-use activity.
• Document transaction purpose and source of funds where cross-border structures are complex.
• Escalate unresolved ownership opacity or adverse information to Compliance.

Enhanced due diligence triggers

• State ownership / control
• PEP involvement
• Sensitive / restricted sectors
• Opaque ownership
• Adverse media
• Dual-use goods & technology
• High-risk intermediary routing

FATF status: Grey list

Jurisdiction Under Increased Monitoring. Last reviewed 19 Jun 2026; next FATF plenary Oct 2026.

Sanctions: Sectoral

• EU — sectoral: Restrictive measures in view of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (source)
• OFAC — targeted: Democratic Republic of the Congo-Related Sanctions (source)
• UK — sectoral: Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions (source)
• UN — sectoral: 1533 Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions (source)

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

• UN: Yes (Sectoral)
• EU: Yes (Sectoral)
• UK: Yes (Sectoral)
• US: Yes (Targeted)

No means the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level programme. People or organisations may still appear on sanctions lists.

Government effectiveness and rule of law (World Bank 2024, percentile)

• Government Effectiveness: 18/100
• Regulatory Quality: 35/100
• Rule of Law: 29/100

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

FATF network via GABAC.

• Action Group against Money Laundering in Central Africa

Last mutual evaluation: 2021 · report

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

FIU: Not an Egmont Group member

Framework signals

• FATF listing: Grey list
• International sanctions: sectoral exposure
• BO register: Public (live)
• Corruption (CPI 2025): 20/100, rank #163 of 182
• Rule of law (WGI): 7.3/10 risk

Sector exposure

• Banking & payments (Elevated): FATF grey-list status elevates correspondent-banking risk
• Trade & export controls (High): Sectoral sanctions: Restrictive measures in view of the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Crypto & virtual assets (Elevated): FATF grey-list VASP supervision gaps raise virtual-asset risk
• Real estate & luxury assets (High): Severe corruption exposure (CPI 20/100) drives laundering risk
• State-linked & procurement (High): High state-capture risk (corruption WGI 8.3/10)

Derived from sanctions tier, FATF listing, World Bank WGI governance and CPI; no per-sector dataset is asserted.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: analysis

The DRC combines a severely weak governance profile with current FATF grey listing. Corruption (severe risk, weight 35%) is the principal driver, followed by a very weak rule of law and institutions reading (weight 40%). Political stability is also elevated, and voice and accountability compounds democratic deficits. No sanctions apply. The CPI reading reinforces the picture of entrenched institutional weakness. The DRC sits among the most poorly governed states assessed on the World Bank indicators.

Outlook

The DRC remains subject to active FATF monitoring, with the next plenary scheduled for October 2026. Progress on AML/CFT action plans will be determinative for any future de-listing. Without sustained reform in anti-corruption frameworks and judicial independence, the risk trajectory is unlikely to improve materially in the near term.

Key watchpoints

• FATF plenary outcomes in October 2026 and any change in grey-list status.
• Progress on national AML/CFT action plans as assessed by FATF and GABAC (the regional FATF-style body).
• Corruption risk trajectory in extractive industries and public procurement.
• Any imposition of targeted sanctions by international bodies, which would further raise the risk profile.

Assessment currency

• FATF status: Increased monitoring (as of 19 Jun 2026)
• Sanctions exposure: Targeted programmes in place (as of Jul 2026)
• Governance (WGI): Latest dataset incorporated (as of 2024)
• Corruption (CPI): 20/100 (as of 2025)
• RegActions assessment: Reviewed (as of 19 Jun 2026)

Public evidence layer

FATF action: increased monitoring. FATF identifies the jurisdiction as under increased monitoring; apply the firm's risk-based controls and monitor remediation progress.

Contextual signals (not scored)

• FATF network membership: FATF regional network: GABAC (present, as of 2026-07)
• EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Not listed in Annex I (absent, as of 2026-02-17)
• Egmont Group FIU: No Egmont member FIU identified (absent, as of 2026-07-17)
• Beneficial-ownership register: Public (live) (present, as of 2026-07-17)
• Transparency International CPI: 20/100, rank 163 (present, as of 2025)

Evidence freshness

• FATF monitored-jurisdiction status: current; data 2026-06-19
• FATF mutual evaluation and follow-up ratings: current; data 2026-07-31; follow-up 2026-03; base assessment 2021-04
• World Bank governance indicators: current; data 2024
• UN, UK, EU and US sanctions regimes: current; data 2026-08-16

Contextual signals are public evidence only and do not change the immutable v2 score.

Download evidence PDF · CSV · JSON

Regional peer scores

• Central African Republic: 7.8/10 (Very high)
• Somalia: 7.3/10 (Very high)
• South Sudan: 7.3/10 (Very high)
• Sudan: 7.1/10 (Very high)
• Eritrea: 6.9/10 (High)
• Libya: 6.9/10 (High)

Source: FATF black & grey lists · World Bank WGI (CC BY 4.0 — World Bank WGI) · TI CPI (CC BY-ND 4.0 — Transparency International, display only)