Financial Market Council Adopts 2026 Strategy to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing
The Financial Market Council (CMF) has adopted its 2026 strategy to strengthen the fight against money laundering, terrorism financing, and the proliferation of weapons. This initiative is part of its legal mission to ensure the integrity and transparency of the Tunisian financial market, while supporting national efforts to prevent risks.
Key Axes of the Strategy
The strategy is based on several complementary axes, aligned with international standards and the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The first axis focuses on strengthening market actor adherence, shifting from formal compliance to a risk-based approach and good governance. The CMF plans to:
- Monitor the implementation of action plans resulting from controls
- Strengthen compliance and internal control structures
- Intensify awareness-raising actions, while promoting digital solutions for customer knowledge and operation surveillance
The second axis emphasizes the development of skills, with specialized training programs for CMF staff and market players, as well as the publication of sectoral guides to harmonize the application of regulatory requirements and promote a sustainable culture of compliance.
The third axis aims to improve the quality of reporting and analysis, by:
- Increasing the accuracy of suspicious transaction reports
- Respecting legal deadlines
- Strengthening coordination with the Tunisian Financial Analysis Commission (CTAF), judicial and security authorities
- Developing digital tools and early warning mechanisms
Reinforcing Sanctions and Supervision
The strategy also reinforces the application of targeted financial sanctions, with:
- Verification of filtering devices
- Immediate freezing of measures without prior notification
- Updating risk matrices based on the 2025 national risk assessment
Finally, the CMF plans to improve its supervision and control framework by adopting a risk-based approach as its central methodology, and developing sectoral evaluation tools and warning mechanisms to focus its interventions on the most exposed activities.
Commitment to Prevention, Supervision, and Sanction
With this strategy, the CMF reaffirms its commitment to prevention, supervision, and sanction, contributing to the stability of the Tunisian financial market, strengthening the confidence of actors, and aligning with international best practices.
