Subject persons are often faced with deciding whether to
terminate a business relationship (derisk) or introduce mitigating
measures that reduce money laundering/terrorism financing
(“ML/FT”) risk and cater for financial inclusion.
The FATF refers to de-risking as the phenomenon of financial
institutions terminating or restricting business relationships with
clients or categories of clients to avoid, rather than manage, risk
in line with the FATF's risk-based approach. Persons or
entities who do not have access to the controlled financial system
may resort to using less regulated or unregulated channels, thus
increasing the risk of ML/FT due to a lack of control over
transactions.