The Basel Institute of Governance has published its sixth annual anti-money-laundering index since the first one appeared in 2012. It begins by admitting that no reliable quantitative data on money laundering are available.

It might seem ironic that a compliance organisation with 'Basel' in its name is claiming to be 'independent' of the powers-that-be, but this is indeed the institute's assertion. Its SFr8 million (€7 million) annual budget is, in fact, funded by 'core' contributions from the governments of Liechtenstein, Switzerland (through the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs) and the United Kingdom (through the Department for International Development). It believes that its index is the only one issued by an independent, not-for-profit organisation that ranks countries according to their risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The index roves more widely than its title suggests. The institute bases it not only on the quality of each country’s way of dealing with money laundering and terrorist finance, but also on "related factors" such as people's opinions about levels of corruption, financial sector standards and something called "public transparency." There is a public edition and an expert edition, for which people have to pay SFr 2,000 (€1,757) or more, depending on the number of people in the purchasing firm.

The index is as follows, with scores. A total of 14 indicators dealing with AML/TF regulations, corruption, financial standards, political disclosure and the rule of law are aggregated into one overall risk score per country. This represents a holistic assessment of each country. It is designed, in the institute's words, to "indicate the risk level, i.e. the vulnerabilities of money laundering and terrorist financing within a country."

• 1 Iran 8.60
• 2 Afghanistan 8.38
• 3 Guinea-Bissau 8.35
• 4 Tajikistan 8.28
• 5 Laos 8.28
• 6 Mozambique 8.08
• 7 Mali 7.97
• 8 Uganda 7.95
• 9 Cambodia 7.94
• 10 Tanzania 7.89
• 11 Kenya 7.72
• 12 Liberia 7.62
• 13 Myanmar 7.58
• 14 Nepal 7.57
• 15 Burkina Faso 7.54
• 16 Paraguay 7.53
• 17 Haiti 7.50
• 18 Vietnam 7.44
• 19 Zambia 7.43
• 20 Sao Tome and Principe 7.42
• 21 Niger 7.38
• 22 Benin 7.37
• 23 Bolivia 7.17
• 24 Lesotho 7.15
• 25 Sri Lanka 7.15
• 26 Sierra Leone 7.14
• 27 Lebanon 7.07
• 28 Vanuatu 7.02
• 29 Sudan 7.02
• 30 Panama 7.01
• 31 Cape Verde 6.99
• 32 Mauritania 6.92
• 33 Nigeria 6.90
• 34 Ghana 6.84
• 35 Trinidad & Tobago 6.80
• 36 Zimbabwe 6.80
• 37 Yemen 6.80
• 38 Marshall Islands 6.70
• 39 Gambia 6.70
• 40 Rwanda 6.69
• 41 Argentina 6.69
• 42 Dominican Republic 6.69
• 43 Turkey 6.65
• 44 Thailand 6.65
• 45 Nicaragua 6.64
• 46 Pakistan 6.64
• 47 Jamaica 6.60
• 48 Namibia 6.59
• 49 Angola 6.55
• 50 Venezuela 6.53
• 51 China 6.53
• 52 Ukraine 6.52
• 53 Cote D'ivoire 6.51
• 54 Algeria 6.48
• 55 Timor-Leste (East Timor) 6.43
• 56 Kazakhstan 6.42
• 57 Morocco 6.38
• 58 Ecuador 6.37
• 59 Tunisia 6.37
• 60 Kyrgyzstan 6.33
• 61 Indonesia 6.32
• 62 Senegal 6.31
• 63 Guyana 6.24
• 64 Russia 6.22
• 65 Philippines 6.20
• 66 Brazil 6.20
• 67 Guatemala 6.17
• 68 Papua New Guinea 6.13
• 69 Mongolia 6.10
• 70 Malaysia 6.10
• 71 Uzbekistan 6.09
• 72 United Arab Emirates 6.06
• 73 Grenada 6.04
• 74 Botswana 6.02
• 75 Honduras 5.97
• 76 St Vincent and the Grenadines 5.96
• 77 Costa Rica 5.93
• 78 Mauritius 5.92
• 79 Bosnia-Herzegovina 5.91
• 80 Malawi 5.86
• 81 Bahrain 5.80
• 82 Bangladesh 5.79
• 83 Serbia 5.76
• 84 Mexico 5.75
• 85 Albania 5.75
• 86 St. Lucia 5.72
• 87 Egypt 5.66
• 88 India 5.58
• 89 Hong Kong 5.54
• 90 Kuwait 5.53
• 91 El Salvador 5.48
• 92 Moldova 5.43
• 93 Saudi Arabia 5.43
• 94 Hungary 5.41
• 95 Italy 5.41
• 96 Luxembourg 5.40
• 97 Georgia 5.37
• 98 Japan 5.36
• 99 South Africa 5.32
• 100 Peru 5.25
• 101 Uruguay 5.16
• 102 Switzerland 5.15
• 103 Canada 5.14
• 104 Dominica 5.12
• 105 Greece 5.11
• 106 Macedonia 5.10
• 107 Qatar 5.10
• 108 Austria 5.06
• 109 Chile 4.94
• 110 Netherlands 4.93
• 111 Jordan 4.90
• 112 Portugal 4.90
• 113 Korea, South 4.90
• 114 Spain 4.87
• 115 Cyprus 4.87
• 116 United States 4.85
• 117 Singapore 4.83
• 118 United Kingdom 4.81
• 119 Azerbaijan 4.78
• 120 Slovakia 4.78
• 121 Germany 4.78
• 122 Montenegro 4.76
• 123 Belgium 4.66
• 124 Ireland 4.62
• 125 Colombia 4.57
• 126 Czech Republic 4.57
• 127 Norway 4.56
• 128 France 4.52
• 129 Romania 4.50
• 130 Poland 4.50
• 131 Australia 4.49
• 132 Iceland 4.47
• 133 Latvia 4.44
• 134 Armenia 4.44
• 135 Malta 4.37
• 136 Taiwan 4.34
• 137 Israel 4.25
• 138 Sweden 4.25
• 139 Croatia 4.11
• 140 Denmark 4.05
• 141 Slovenia 4.02
• 142 New Zealand 3.91
• 143 Bulgaria 3.87
• 144 Estonia 3.83
• 145 Lithuania 3.67
• 146 Finland 3.04

Most of the top 10 high-risk countries have not changed their risk ratings significantly since last year. The list of low-risk countries has not changed significantly during the last six years. Most countries grouped near the lower risk category can demonstrate a strong AML/TF compliance level. Most lower-risk countries are in that category because the Basel Institute of Governance trusts the Financial Action Task Force's so-called "mutual evaluations" (actually just FATF inspectors' evaluations) of jurisdictions as a good indication of countries' AML compliance.

The FATF has upgraded its methods of evaluating nations by paying attention for the first time to the actual efficacy of their AML regimes. This has reduced the ratings of some countries that have had recent visits "because the actual implementation of laws seems to lag behind the technical compliance." Hungary, for example, worsened its score because of the new FATF evaluation report on its effectiveness. Jamaica, Tunisia, Hungary, Trinidad and Tobago recorded higher risk ratings this year for that reason also. Other countries can be expected to slip down in the listings as they receive FATF visits of their own.

The institute is inviting researchers, policy-makers and compliance officers who are interested in gaining a better understanding of this-or-that country’s risk rating/result are to consult the specific sub-indicators employed in the compilation of the index. This, however, requires a subscription.