Venezuela — Country Risk Report

Venezuela (Americas • South America). Risk report as of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary.

Very high country risk, with elevated corruption risk. Venezuela's country risk score is 7.8/10, placing it in the very high-risk band. The principal driver is weak corruption, alongside rule of law and institutions risk. Venezuela is subject to FATF increased monitoring. Venezuela 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: 7.6/10
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 10/100, rank #180 of 182
  • Enforcement data: not yet assessed (no RegActions coverage)

Country Risk Score: 7.8/10 (Very high)

Higher score means higher country risk (global average 4.6). Full information available. Strong data coverage. 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: 8.6/10 — 50% of this score
  • Government effectiveness and rule of law: 7.6/10 — 30% of this score
  • International sanctions: 5.9/10 — 20% of this score
  • 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.
Show the exact calculation

aml 8.6 × 50% + governance 7.6 × 30% + sanctions 5.9 × 20% = 7.8; fatf-grey floor 6 non-binding, sanctions-sectoral floor 6 non-binding; final 7.8

Principal risk drivers

  • FATF increased-monitoring status
  • Sectoral sanctions exposure
  • Corruption (WGI) — 8.4/10
  • Rule of law & institutions — 7.8/10
  • Voice & accountability — 7.5/10

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 Venezuela (source)
  • OFAC — sectoral: Venezuela-Related Sanctions (source)
  • UK — targeted: Venezuela sanctions (source)

Source details

International sanctions by issuing body

  • UN: No
  • EU: Yes (Sectoral)
  • UK: Yes (Targeted)
  • US: Yes (Sectoral)

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: 23/100
  • Regulatory Quality: 25/100
  • Rule of Law: 19/100

Regulators and legal framework

FATF network

FATF network via CFATF.

Last mutual evaluation: 2023 · report

National regulators

Regulator profiles not yet available on RegActions.

FIU: Egmont Group member (UNIF)

Framework signals

  • FATF listing: Grey list
  • International sanctions: sectoral exposure
  • Corruption (CPI 2025): 10/100, rank #180 of 182
  • Rule of law (WGI): 7.8/10 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 Venezuela
  • Crypto & virtual assets (Elevated): FATF grey-list VASP supervision gaps raise virtual-asset risk
  • Real estate & luxury assets (High): Severe corruption exposure (CPI 10/100) drives laundering risk
  • State-linked & procurement (High): High state-capture risk (corruption WGI 8.4/10)

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

Venezuela: analysis

Venezuela's profile combines an extreme governance picture with FATF grey listing and targeted OFAC sanctions. Every governance domain is severely impaired: corruption (WGI) is the dominant driver, followed by rule of law (severe) and voice and accountability (severe). Political stability (elevated) is the least-weak domain, though it remains high risk. The CPI reading confirms systemic corruption. Venezuela sits in the lowest quartile of the World Bank governance indicators.

Outlook

Venezuela's very-high-risk status is structurally entrenched. Resolution of the FATF grey-list listing and removal of sanctions would require sustained and verified improvements in AML effectiveness and governance that are not currently in evidence. Firms should treat Venezuela as a maximum-risk jurisdiction requiring the most stringent due diligence. Any change in FATF listing status, sanctions programmes or political configuration would be the key signal for re-assessment.

Key watchpoints

  • FATF grey-list status and progress (or lack thereof) at future FATF plenaries, with the next scheduled for October 2026.
  • OFAC sanctions programme, including any expansions, modifications or removals under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations.
  • CPI and WGI Corruption scores, currently among the worst globally.
  • Political and economic developments affecting institutional capacity and the operating environment for financial crime.

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): 10/100 (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: CFATF (present, as of 2026-07)
  • EU non-cooperative tax jurisdictions: Not listed in Annex I (absent, as of 2026-02-17)
  • Egmont Group FIU: UNIF (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: 10/100, rank 180 (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 2025-10; base assessment 2023-03
  • World Bank governance indicators: current; data 2024
  • UN, UK, EU and US sanctions regimes: current; data 2026-08-13

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

Download evidence PDF · CSV · JSON

Regional peer scores

FAQ

Is Venezuela on the FATF grey list?

Yes. As of the 19 Jun 2026 FATF plenary, Venezuela is on the FATF grey list (Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring). This is one AML indicator and does not by itself set Venezuela's overall country risk rating. The next FATF plenary review is scheduled for Oct 2026.

Is Venezuela subject to sanctions?

Partly. Venezuela has sectoral sanctions exposure rather than a comprehensive country-wide programme. Firms should screen applicable persons, entities and sectors against the OFAC, UK, EU and UN lists.

What is Venezuela's country risk rating?

RegActions rates Venezuela at 7.8/10 (Very high risk), where a higher score means higher country risk. The score combines financial crime controls, government effectiveness and rule of law, and international sanctions. Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index scores Venezuela 10/100 (rank #180 of 182).

What due diligence applies to Venezuela?

Enhanced due diligence. This is decision-support based on Venezuela's FATF grey list 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)