Kosovo — Country Risk Report

Kosovo (Europe • Southern Europe). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

Moderate country risk, with elevated corruption risk. Kosovo's country risk score is 2.8/10, placing it in the moderate-risk band. Some information is unavailable, so the available parts are rebalanced and the country will not be labelled Low risk while information is missing. The principal driver is weak corruption, alongside rule of law and institutions risk. Kosovo is not currently FATF grey- or black-listed. Kosovo 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

Standard due diligence, with enhanced checks for defined risk triggers.

At a glance

  • FATF status: Not currently listed (one indicator only; it does not set the overall country risk rating by itself)
  • Comprehensive country sanctions: none identified. Targeted sanctions exposure: possible, screen applicable persons, entities and sectors
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 4.6/10
  • Corruption (CPI): no score
  • Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

Country Risk Score: 2.8/10 (Moderate)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Some information unavailable. Limited supporting information. Enforcement activity and CPI are shown for context but do not change the score.

One of the three parts is unavailable. The available parts are rebalanced, and the result will not be labelled Low risk while information is missing.

How this score was calculated

  • Financial crime controls: information unavailable — 0% of this score
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 4.6/10 — 60% of this score
  • International sanctions: 0.0/10 — 40% of this score
  • Financial crime controls information is unavailable.

International sanctions contributes 0.0 because the complete UN, UK, EU and US review found no direct country-level sanctions programme. People or organisations connected to the country may still appear on sanctions lists.

Show the exact calculation

governance 4.6 × 60% + sanctions 0 × 40% = 2.8; final 2.8

Principal risk drivers

  • Corruption (WGI) — 5.7/10

Mitigating factors

  • Not currently on the FATF grey or black list.
  • No comprehensive country-wide sanctions programme.
  • Comparatively stronger voice and accountability (4.0/10).
  • Risk is concentrated in specific counterparties, sectors and transactions rather than applying uniformly.

Business impact

  • Customer onboarding (Medium): Additional ownership and control verification may be required.
  • Payments and transactions (Medium): Review transaction purpose, counterparties and geographic routing.
  • Trade and export activity (Medium): Screen goods, end users and potential dual-use exposure.
  • Corporate clients (Medium): Assess state ownership, government links and political exposure.
  • Ongoing monitoring (Medium): 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: Not currently listed

Kosovo is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary.

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

  • UN: No
  • EU: No
  • UK: No
  • US: No

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: 50/100
  • Regulatory Quality: 51/100
  • Rule of Law: 58/100

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

Outside the FATF regional network.

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

FIU: Egmont Group member (NJIF-K)

Framework signals

  • FATF listing: Not currently listed
  • International sanctions: no listed programme identified
  • Corruption (CPI): no score
  • Rule of law (WGI): 4.7/10 risk

Sector exposure

  • Banking & payments (Low): No FATF listing, rule-of-law governance within normal range
  • Trade & export controls (Low): No sanctions programme or FATF black-list constraint identified
  • Crypto & virtual assets (Low): No FATF listing, accountability governance within normal range
  • Real estate & luxury assets (Low): Corruption indicators within normal range for high-value assets
  • State-linked & procurement (Low): Political-stability and corruption governance within normal range

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

Kosovo: analysis

Kosovo's profile is shaped by two weak governance domains: corruption (weighted 35%) and rule of law and institutions (weighted 40%). Together these two domains carry 75% of the governance weight and both register at the upper end of the moderate-risk range. Political stability (moderate) and voice and accountability (moderate) also contribute meaningfully. No FATF listing or sanctions apply, so the profile rests on governance alone. No CPI data is available. Kosovo sits only marginally above the median on the World Bank governance indicators.

Outlook

Kosovo's governance challenges reflect its status as a young state still consolidating institutions and rule-of-law frameworks. Progress in EU accession-related reforms and donor-supported anti-corruption initiatives could improve scores over the medium term, but structural change will take time. Firms engaging with Kosovo counterparties should apply enhanced due diligence, with particular attention to beneficial ownership, PEP screening and the integrity of contractual and judicial enforcement mechanisms.

Key watchpoints

  • Monitor progress on EU integration and associated rule-of-law and anti-corruption conditionality.
  • Screen counterparties thoroughly for politically exposed persons and state-linked entities given elevated corruption scores.
  • Track any future FATF assessment of Kosovo's AML/CFT framework, as no formal evaluation outcome is reflected in current scores.
  • Assess geopolitical stability indicators given the political-stability risk score and the regional context.

Assessment currency

  • FATF status: Not listed (as of 19 Jun 2026)
  • Sanctions exposure: None identified (as of Jul 2026)
  • Governance (WGI): Latest dataset incorporated (as of 2024)
  • Corruption (CPI): Not available (as of 2025)
  • RegActions assessment: Reviewed (as of 19 Jun 2026)

Public evidence layer

FATF action: none. No FATF call-for-action or increased-monitoring status was identified at the latest plenary. This does not establish low risk.

Contextual signals (not scored)

  • FATF network membership: No FATF or regional-body membership identified (absent, as of 2026-07)
  • EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Not listed in Annex I (absent, as of 2026-02-17)
  • Egmont Group FIU: NJIF-K (present, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Beneficial-ownership register: No live register identified in the source (unavailable, as of 2026-07-17)
  • Transparency International CPI: No CPI result available (unavailable, 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
  • 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

FAQ

Is Kosovo on the FATF grey list?

No. Kosovo is not on the FATF grey or black list as of the 19 Jun 2026 plenary. FATF listing is one AML indicator; absence from the list does not by itself make Kosovo low risk. The next FATF plenary review is scheduled for Oct 2026.

Is Kosovo subject to sanctions?

No country-level programme was identified. In the approved RegActions snapshot, no comprehensive or targeted country-wide sanctions programme was found for Kosovo, but individual listed persons may still exist, so firms should continue to screen counterparties against the applicable lists.

What is Kosovo's country risk rating?

RegActions rates Kosovo at 2.8/10 (Moderate risk), where a higher score means higher country risk. The score combines financial crime controls, government effectiveness and rule of law, and international sanctions. Some information is unavailable, so the available parts are rebalanced and the country will not be labelled Low risk while information is missing.

What due diligence applies to Kosovo?

Standard due diligence, with enhanced checks for defined risk triggers. This is decision-support based on Kosovo's FATF status, governance and sanctions signals, and is not a substitute for a firm's own risk assessment.

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)