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
Wallis and Futuna occupy a strategic midpoint between Fiji and Samoa, with settlement traditions reaching back to around 800 B.C. Wallis developed a hierarchical chiefdom influenced by Tongan invaders, while Futuna formed a somewhat less centralized system following Samoan settlement. Dutch and British explorers later appeared, including Samuel WALLIS, before French Catholic missionaries arrived permanently in 1837 and converted much of the population.
Local rulers and missionaries sought French protection amid political upheaval, leading to protectorate arrangements involving Uvea’s King LAVELAVA and Futuna’s Kings MUSULAMU and TAMOLE. The islands were later administered with New Caledonia, voted for separation in 1959, became a French overseas territory in 1961, and were reclassified as an overseas collectivity in 2003. Their distinct ties to France, New Caledonia, and the Pacific were further reflected in Wallis and Futuna’s associate membership in the Pacific Islands Forum in 2018.
AML & Terrorist Financing
Wallis and Futuna falls within France’s AML/CFT framework, with France not listed by FATF as having strategic deficiencies and receiving a mixed but generally strong assessment in 2022. While the authorities demonstrate substantial capabilities—particularly through TRACFIN, the PNF and coordinated terrorism-financing investigations—France faces broad cross-border laundering risks, with vulnerabilities and uneven compliance noted in sectors such as real estate, legal services, payment providers and other DNFBPs. Further areas of interest include delays in suspicious transaction and targeted-sanctions implementation, beneficial-owner identification challenges, and concerns over the broad treatment and coverage of potentially vulnerable non-profit organisations.
Sanctions
As a French overseas collectivity, Wallis and Futuna falls under France’s implementation of UN and EU restrictive measures, including asset freezes, travel bans, sectoral controls, and arms embargoes directed at activities and responsible entities linked to countries such as Russia, Belarus, and Iran. French authorities, including the Customs Office and financial regulators, investigate evasion through raids, asset freezes, and prosecutions, while France also participates in the REPO Task Force addressing sanctioned Russian assets and complex transit networks. No international sanctions are currently in force against Wallis and Futuna.
Criminality
Wallis and Futuna’s corruption environment is shaped by France’s legal and institutional framework, which includes restrictions on conflicts of interest, whistleblower protections, public-interest disclosures, and the Agence Française Anticorruption (AFA). Despite these safeguards, longstanding concerns remain about enforcement, prosecutorial independence, foreign-bribery investigations, and the follow-through on corruption cases, with bodies such as OCLCIFF and the National Financial Prosecutor involved in addressing financial misconduct.
Reports
Wallis and Futuna falls under France’s framework, where authorities maintain top-tier anti-trafficking standards while continuing to face concerns involving victim identification, prosecutions, compensation, and exploitation risks affecting vulnerable populations across French territories. France also remains at its highest terrorism alert level, with lone actors, small cells, ultra groups, geopolitical tensions, and the Corsican National Liberation Front among the concerns addressed through Operation Sentinelle and international security cooperation.
Economy & Investment Climate
Wallis and Futuna’s lower-middle-income economy is shaped by subsistence agriculture, fishing, copra, handicrafts, and substantial support from France, expatriate remittances, and foreign fishing-rights licenses. Its French overseas-collectivity status and French civil-law framework provide stability, while limited infrastructure, environmental pressures, an aging workforce, and dependence on imported essentials continue to influence investment prospects.
Cryptocurrency Regulations
Cryptocurrency is permitted in Wallis and Futuna but is not legal tender, with activities largely governed through France’s framework under the CFP franc system and Ordinance No. 2020-1544. Businesses face AMF registration, ACPR review, TRACFIN reporting, and evolving Travel Rule and MiCA obligations, while local taxation, supervision, and the presence of operating VASPs remain comparatively undefined.
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