Honduras Undergoes GAFILAT Review to Avoid Grey List as Central America Pushes Financial Transparency

Honduras began a 18‑month mutual evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force for Latin America (GAFILAT), its first such review in a decade. The assessment will examine whether the country complies with the 40 FATF recommendations on anti‑money laundering and counter‑terrorist financing, and will determine if Honduras remains off the FATF’s “grey list,” which could raise transaction costs and deter foreign investment. The review involves multiple state bodies, including the National Banking and Insurance Commission, the judiciary, the public prosecutor’s office and the registry of civil associations, and will check progress on ten recommendations left unaddressed from the 2015 evaluation.

At the same time, Grupo Ficohsa’s vice‑president of corporate communications, Germán Castañeda, called for greater transparency, sustainability and trust across the Central American financial sector. Speaking in Honduras, Castañeda highlighted the group’s regional presence in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and the United States, and stressed the need for banks to act as allies for inclusive growth, citing the firm’s new sustainability report and its commitment to financial inclusion, entrepreneurship and education.