Jamaica's Money Laundering Risk Falls Amid Stronger Enforcement and Oversight

Efforts to strengthen Jamaica’s anti-money laundering regime are yielding results, with the Bank of Jamaica's (BOJ’s) National Risk Assessment Report 2026 showing an improvement in the country's overall residual money laundering risk profile. The report found that Jamaica's risk rating declined to Medium with a score of 0.43 in 2025 from Medium-High with a score of 0.72 in 2021^[1]. The improvement was driven by stronger regulatory oversight, enhanced inter-agency coordination, and more effective enforcement measures.
Despite continued exposure to major crimes such as narcotics trafficking, fraud, and cyber-enabled crime, the report found that criminal actors are facing growing difficulty in exploiting Jamaica's formal financial system. Strengthened law enforcement operations, improved financial investigations, and increased asset recovery efforts have helped contain the flow of illicit proceeds and limit opportunities for abuse within regulated channels.
Importantly, the banking sector was identified as a key area of progress over the 2021-2025 period. Financial institutions enhanced cyber-security controls, fraud detection systems, authentication protocols, and transaction monitoring capabilities, while regulators increased supervisory scrutiny through targeted reviews and ongoing engagement. These measures reduced vulnerabilities across digital payment channels and contributed to greater resilience within the financial system.
That said, as controls tightened, criminal networks have adapted their methods. The report noted a shift away from high-volume digital fraud toward lower-frequency but higher-value activities such as cheque forgery, attacks on cash-in-transit services, and other cash-intensive operations. This evolution has made criminal activity more costly, fragmented, and operationally risky, suggesting that defensive measures are narrowing viable avenues for financial crime.
The assessment also highlighted notable improvements in the remittance and cambio sectors. Enhanced customer due diligence, automated screening systems, stronger governance standards, and closer regulatory oversight reduced the attractiveness of these sectors as money laundering conduits. As a result, illicit actors increasingly migrated toward alternative channels outside the regulated financial ecosystem.
Looking ahead, emerging vulnerabilities in designated non-financial businesses and professions have been identified, including real estate development, motor vehicle trading, selected professional services, and trade-based money laundering linked to construction materials and vehicle imports. As a result, the BOJ noted that future policy efforts will focus on strengthening intelligence sharing, enhancing financial investigations, improving prosecutions, and expanding oversight in these sectors to further reinforce Jamaica's resilience against evolving financial crime threats.

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¹ML Threat is measured from high to low scores, with a decline in the score marking an improvement. The ranges include High, Medium-high, Medium, Medium-low, and Low.

(Sources: Bank of Jamaica & NCBCM Research)