Vatican City — Country Risk Report

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

Low country risk. Vatican City's overall country risk score is 0.0/10, placing it in the low-risk band. The principal driver is its governance profile. Vatican City is not currently FATF grey- or black-listed. The v2 geographic-sanctions classification is under independent review, so the absence of a programme is not inferred.

Recommended treatment

Standard due diligence.

At a glance

  • FATF status: Not currently listed (one indicator only; does not by itself set the overall AML risk rating)
  • Geographic sanctions classification: independent review pending; absence is not inferred and applicable lists must still be screened.
  • Governance (WGI) base: 0.0/10
  • Corruption (CPI): no score
  • Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

RegActions Country Risk Score: 0.0/10 (Low)

This is the historical v1 comparison score. Higher score = higher risk (global average 4.9). It uses a World Bank WGI governance base with FATF and the legacy sanctions snapshot as escalators (capped at 10). V2 is shown separately and withholds sanctions scoring while classifications are under review. Enforcement volume and CPI are shown but not scored.

How it is scored

  • Corruption (WGI) (35%): no data
  • Rule of law & institutions (40%): no data
  • Political stability (15%): no data
  • Voice & accountability (10%): no data
  • Governance base: 0.0
  • Composite: 0.0

Principal risk drivers

  • Governance-driven baseline risk; sanctions classification pending independent review

Mitigating factors

  • Not currently on the FATF grey or black list.
  • Overall governance and institutional quality are relatively strong.

Business impact

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

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

Attributed indicators

Sanctions programme by imposer (reviewed 2026-07)

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

“No” means no country-level programme by that imposer is identified; individual listed persons may still exist.

Governance sub-scores (World Bank WGI 2024, percentile)

  • Government Effectiveness: no data
  • Regulatory Quality: no data
  • Rule of Law: no data

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

FATF network via MONEYVAL.

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

Framework signals

  • FATF listing: Not currently listed
  • Sanctions exposure: independent classification review pending
  • Corruption (CPI): no score
  • Rule of law (WGI): no data

Assessment currency

  • FATF status: Not listed (as of 19 Jun 2026)
  • Sanctions exposure: Classification review pending — absence not inferred (as of 16 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)

Regional peer scores

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)