Risk Indicators
- FATF/EU Blacklist/Greylist (Lower Concern)
- Terrorism Financing (Lower Concern)
- US Dept of State INCSR
- Proliferation Financing
- Corruption
- Criminality
- Resilience & Governance
- Financial Transparency
- Offshore Finance Centres
- Sanctions
Background
Mayotte lies in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Mozambique, with its closest regional connections to the Comoros and Madagascar. These neighboring states face recurring political instability, contested governance, corruption, weak security capacity, and porous maritime or land borders. The Comoros remains particularly significant because of President Azali Assoumani’s authoritarian consolidation, disputed sovereignty claims, and the legacy of a passport-sales scheme associated with sanctions-evasion concerns.
Madagascar’s democratic backsliding, “dahalo” banditry, and corruption affecting customs and natural resources add further regional complexity, while Mozambique’s “Hidden-Debt” scandal continues to shape international scrutiny and asset-recovery efforts. None of these neighboring countries currently faces international sanctions, but weaknesses in governance and enforcement may undermine trade controls and facilitate illicit activity. Mayotte is also situated within the wider French framework, benefiting from France’s role in the European and international systems and its status as a French region since the early twenty-first century.
AML & Terrorist Financing
As a French overseas department, Mayotte falls within a national AML/CFT framework assessed as broadly effective, with TRACFIN, ACPR, AMF, PNF and OCRGDF sharing responsibilities across intelligence, supervision and enforcement. Key exposure areas include cross-border proceeds, fraud, narcotics, human trafficking, corruption and informal value-transfer channels, while terrorist-financing risks remain linked largely to micro-financing, fundraisers, prepaid cards, virtual assets and limited NPO vulnerabilities. Important challenges persist in beneficial-owner identification, timely suspicious-transaction and sanctions implementation, specialised investigative capacity, and risk-based oversight of sectors such as real estate, lawyers, notaries and other DNFBPs.
Sanctions
Through France’s EU-aligned framework, Mayotte is covered by restrictive measures directed at governments, entities, and individuals connected to activities involving Russia, Belarus, Iran, and other jurisdictions, including asset freezes, travel bans, trade restrictions, and embargoes. French Customs and financial regulators pursue suspected evasion through raids, asset freezes, prosecutions, and cooperation with the REPO Task Force, with particular attention to transit routes and intermediaries linked to Russia. No international sanctions are currently in force against Mayotte, while emerging French legislation and EU Directive 2024/1226 point to further tightening of enforcement.
Criminality
Mayotte’s corruption landscape is shaped by France’s extensive legal and institutional framework, although questions remain about political probity, enforcement consistency, and public confidence following recent scandals. Measures such as the Loi Sapin II, the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life, the Agence Française Anticorruption, and the National Financial Prosecutor provide avenues for oversight, while OECD findings point to persistent gaps in foreign-bribery prosecutions, investigative resources, and the independence of prosecutors.
Reports
Mayotte faces significant trafficking vulnerabilities, particularly among an estimated 3,000–4,000 unaccompanied Comorian children and women arriving from Madagascar, while limited protection services heighten risks of forced labor, forced criminality, and sexual exploitation. France remains at its highest terrorism alert level, with Operation Sentinelle, international security cooperation, and nine disrupted attacks in 2024—including three linked to the Olympic and Paralympic Games—underscoring a broader national security context.
Economy & Investment Climate
Mayotte’s economy has expanded with support from French government transfers and its status as a full French department, reaching €2.66 billion in GDP in 2019, though income remains well below Metropolitan France and Réunion. Tourism and European market access offer promise, but insecurity, infrastructure gaps, limited public services, and poverty affecting 84% of residents continue to constrain investment and sustainable growth.
Cryptocurrency Regulations
Mayotte follows France’s cryptocurrency framework, under which digital assets are permitted but are not legal tender, and providers generally face PACTE Act registration, AML/CFT, KYC, and AMF oversight requirements. The €0 Travel Rule, evolving EU standards such as MiCA and CARF, and French-style tax treatment—including reporting gains when crypto is converted to fiat—point to a tightly supervised but still developing market.
Get full access
The information on this page is a brief summary. Get access to EDD country reports, all risk category scores and customisable weightings for 245 jurisdictions.