Key Takeaways
- Grey and black listing differ in severity, and several distinct bodies—the EU, FATF and OECD—assess Seychelles against their own criteria.
- Listing decisions trace back to specific deficiencies, which Seychelles addressed through documented commitments and action plans toward delisting.
- Non-resident owners feel the practical effects mainly in banking access, enhanced due diligence and counterparties' perception of the jurisdiction.
- Current status can shift, so watching re-listing risks and ongoing reforms matters as much as knowing today's standing.
Seychelles on the Global Watchlists: What "Grey" and "Black" Listing Really Means
A grey or black list is a public judgment by an international body that a jurisdiction has fallen short on tax transparency or anti-money-laundering standards. For a foreign owner of a company there, the grey/black list status of Seychelles affects how easily that entity can open bank accounts, move funds, and satisfy the due-diligence checks of overseas counterparties. The status is set not by Seychelles itself but by three external bodies: the European Union, the Financial Action Task Force, and the OECD Global Forum, whose list timeline records each change.
This article traces how those bodies have rated the country, why it was listed and then cleared, and what the outcome means in practice. It matters most to non-resident shareholders, investors, and their advisers weighing incorporation or maintaining an existing structure.
The Bodies That List Seychelles: EU, FATF, OECD and Beyond
Three institutions drive the listing decisions that a foreign owner needs to track. Each looks at a different question, and a poor result from one can feed into the others.
- The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, established in December 2017, screens countries on tax transparency, fair taxation, and anti-BEPS compliance. Its Annex I is the blacklist; Annex II is the greylist for jurisdictions that have committed to reform.
- The FATF publishes its "black and grey" lists three times a year, flagging weak controls against money laundering and terrorist financing. Seychelles is assessed through ESAAMLG, the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, a FATF-style regional body.
- The OECD Global Forum rates jurisdictions on the Exchange of Information on Request (EOIR) standard, and its findings often determine the EU outcome.
No dedicated UN or OECD "tax haven blacklist" applies to the country. The EU's own criteria draw directly on Global Forum and FATF work, so the three bodies reinforce one another rather than operate in isolation.
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Seychelles and the EU Lists: Annex I (Blacklist) and Annex II (Greylist) History
The path through the EU process has moved in both directions. Tracking it shows how quickly status can change between review cycles.
| Date | Action | Resulting status |
|---|---|---|
| December 2017 | Placed on early grey list (34 jurisdictions) | Committed to reform by end-2019 |
| October 2021 | Removed from Annex I | Moved to Annex II pending review |
| 17 October 2023 | Added to Annex I after negative Global Forum assessment | Blacklisted (Annex I then held 16 jurisdictions) |
| 19 February 2024 | Removed from Annex I, moved to Annex II | Greylisted |
| 17 February 2026 | Removed from Annex II | Off both lists entirely |
The October 2023 blacklisting followed a negative OECD assessment on exchange of information. When the Council acted again in February 2024, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands were cleared outright, while Seychelles and Belize were only moved to the greylist.
Full clearance came on 17 February 2026, when the Council recognised that the country had met its tax-transparency commitments and achieved a "Largely Compliant" EOIR rating. After that update, the greylist comprised nine jurisdictions: Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Eswatini, Greenland, Jordan, Montenegro, Morocco and Türkiye.
Seychelles and the FATF: Grey List Episodes and Current Standing
The anti-money-laundering record is more straightforward. The country has never appeared on the FATF blacklist, the "Call for Action," and is not on the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring as of mid-2026.
Its AML/CFT framework was last evaluated by ESAAMLG in September 2018, which found technical compliance deficiencies but did not lead to formal grey-listing. Follow-up reports, including one in June 2023, recorded steady progress, with seven Recommendations revised upward. The entity is now compliant or largely compliant with 34 of the 40 FATF Recommendations.
On 13 February 2026, the FATF confirmed that the country would remain off the grey list. For a non-resident owner, this means the structure does not carry the AML stigma that triggers the heaviest banking scrutiny.
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OECD and Global Forum Assessments: Tax Transparency Ratings
The Global Forum rating is the metric that has mattered most, because it fed the EU decisions. Ratings run on four levels: Compliant, Largely Compliant, Partially Compliant, and Non-Compliant.
A Second Round review in 2020 rated the country "Partially Compliant," with several deficiencies. A July 2023 Supplementary Review held that rating, and that result directly caused the October 2023 EU blacklisting.
The turnaround followed an in-depth review. The Peer Review and Monitoring Group approved a fresh examination in 2024, a mock on-site visit took place in Victoria in January 2025, and the full report was approved in December 2025 and published on 21 January 2026. That in-depth review re-rated the country as "Largely Compliant," the second-highest result. The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), the competent authority for EOIR, published the government response.
Why Seychelles Was Listed: The Specific Deficiencies Cited
The October 2023 blacklisting came down to one problem: the country struggled to answer requests for tax information on request. The root cause was unusual.
A single registered agent left the country in 2018, taking all of its records with it, in the aftermath of the 2016 "Panama Papers" disclosures. That gap made several historical information requests impossible to satisfy, and the failure showed up in the EOIR assessment.
To close the deficiencies, the country amended legislation on nominee and nominator relationships and dissolution processes, brought foreign partnerships within scope of the Beneficial Ownership Act, and amended the Revenue Administration Act to allow administrative penalties for failing to provide requested information. Even after the 2026 upgrade, the Global Forum flagged areas still needing work: the response rate to accounting-information requests, continued supervision and enforcement, and stronger availability of ownership data where nominee arrangements could mask the real owner.
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Commitments and Action Plans: How Seychelles Worked Toward Delisting
In December 2023, the government asked the Global Forum for a supplementary review, citing better quality and timeliness in its exchange-of-information responses. The Peer Review Group accepted the request on the basis that an upgrade was sufficiently likely.
- Legislative amendments addressed nominee and nominator relationships and dissolution processes.
- Foreign partnerships were brought into the scope of the Beneficial Ownership Act.
- The Revenue Administration Act was amended to permit administrative penalties for non-provision of information.
- Authorities reported supplying beneficial ownership information in 100% of cases when asked.
The Ministry of Finance has stated that reforms ran continuously from April 2020 to the clean result in 2026. Separately, the Securities (Amendment) Act 2024, effective in early 2025, requires licensed firms to keep at least two full-time resident personnel, directors or compliance officers, physically based in the country.
Current Status at a Glance: Where Seychelles Stands Today
The entity sits clean across all three regimes, with one caveat about the review calendar.
| Body | Status | Effective date |
|---|---|---|
| EU Annex I (blacklist) | Not listed | 17 February 2026 |
| EU Annex II (greylist) | Not listed | 17 February 2026 |
| FATF increased monitoring (grey list) | Not listed | Mid-2026 |
| OECD Global Forum EOIR | Largely Compliant | January 2026 |
The next EU revision of both lists is scheduled for October 2026. Clean status is therefore subject to that bi-annual cycle, so it should be read as current rather than permanent.
Practical Consequences for Non-Resident Owners: Banking, Due Diligence and Perception
Listing status translates most directly into banking. During the blacklisting period from October 2023 to February 2024, some financial institutions applied heightened scrutiny to structures incorporated there, and a few declined to open accounts for IBCs at all.
When a jurisdiction sits on a greylist or the FATF grey list, banks typically run Enhanced Due Diligence, demand detailed source-of-funds documentation, route transactions through manual review, and absorb de-risking pressure from their own correspondent banks. The practical effect can be failed or delayed cross-border wires. Removal from the greylist in February 2026 reduced that friction for European counterparties and reopened correspondent banking pathways.
Even after a jurisdiction is cleared, institutions may treat structures there cautiously. Substantive activity, complete beneficial ownership records, and well-kept KYC files remain the practical defence.
The beneficial ownership register for IBCs is not public, but it must be kept accurate and produced to the Financial Services Authority on request. That framework aligns with FATF Recommendation 24 and matters whenever a bank runs standard KYC on a non-resident-owned company.
Outlook: Re-Listing Risks and Reforms on the Horizon
Delisting is not the end of scrutiny. Greylisted jurisdictions can be pushed back to the blacklist if they miss agreed timelines, so monitoring continues to matter for any owner with a long-term structure.
The 2026 in-depth review named several open items: accounting-information response rates, sustained supervision and enforcement, and the risk of nominee arrangements obscuring beneficial owners. The October 2026 EU revision will test progress on these points.
Two further developments shape the medium-term picture. The Securities (Amendment) Act 2024 substance requirement aligns the country with OECD BEPS Action 5 "substantial activities" standards, lowering fair-taxation listing risk. ESAAMLG has also announced a third round of Mutual Evaluations starting in June 2025, which will bring the country into a fresh AML/CFT cycle and is the main factor to watch for any future FATF grey-listing.
Conclusion
For a non-resident owner, the headline is favourable: the country is off both EU lists, off the FATF grey list, and rated Largely Compliant by the Global Forum, having worked through a blacklisting that stemmed largely from a single agent's lost records. That clean standing eases banking and counterparty checks, but it rests on the next review cycles and a handful of unfinished items. The practical response is to keep beneficial ownership data accurate, maintain solid KYC records, and demonstrate genuine activity, since bank perception and the October 2026 EU review will both test the structure regardless of the formal status.
How Expanship Can Help Your Business in Seychelles
Expanship advises non-resident owners on what listing status means for their structure, helps assemble the beneficial ownership and KYC documentation that banks now expect, and keeps your entity aligned with the substance and reporting requirements that reduce re-listing exposure. The same team handles the wider lifecycle of a foreign-owned company.
- Company incorporation and structuring
- Registered agent and registered office
- Tax registration and filing
- Ongoing compliance and beneficial ownership management
- Accounting and bookkeeping
- Banking introductions
To discuss your structure, contact Expanship Seychelles.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The country was removed from Annex I, the blacklist, on 19 February 2024 and then cleared from the greylist entirely on 17 February 2026. It sits on no section of either EU list, subject to the next review scheduled for October 2026.
No. It is not on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring as of mid-2026, and the FATF confirmed on 13 February 2026 that it would remain off. The country has also never appeared on the FATF blacklist, the "Call for Action."
The EU added it to Annex I on 17 October 2023 after the OECD Global Forum held a "Partially Compliant" EOIR rating. The underlying problem was difficulty answering tax-information requests, traced to a registered agent who left the country in 2018 taking its records.
The Global Forum re-rated the country "Largely Compliant" with the Exchange of Information on Request standard in its in-depth report published on 21 January 2026. That is the second-highest of four ratings and marked an upgrade from the earlier "Partially Compliant" result.
Yes. During listing periods, banks apply Enhanced Due Diligence, demand source-of-funds documentation, and may decline accounts; removal from the EU greylist in February 2026 reduced that friction. Bank perception can lag the rules, so complete ownership records and evidence of genuine activity remain important.
It is possible. The 2026 review left open items on accounting-information response rates and enforcement, the EU reassesses every six months with the next revision in October 2026, and a new ESAAMLG Mutual Evaluation cycle begins in June 2025, all of which carry residual re-listing risk if implementation slips.
Legal Disclaimer
The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. While we strive to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the content, laws and regulations are subject to change, and the application of laws can vary widely based on specific facts and circumstances.
Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel tailored to their individual situation. Expanship and its authors disclaim any liability for actions taken or not taken based on the content of this article.
For specific advice regarding your business setup, compliance requirements, or any legal matters, please consult with qualified legal and tax professionals in the relevant jurisdiction.
