Country Risk

Geographic location is a key factor in compliance risk assessment. TrustGate provides comprehensive country risk management based on sanctions, corruption indices, and AML effectiveness.

Risk Categories

Sanctioned Countries

Countries with comprehensive sanctions programs:

Category	Countries	Risk Impact
OFAC Comprehensive	Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea	+50
OFAC Sectoral	Russia, Venezuela	+30
EU Sanctions	Belarus, Myanmar	+35
UN Sanctions	Various	+40

High-Risk Countries

Countries with elevated AML/CFT risk:

Category	Criteria	Risk Impact
FATF High-Risk	Countries on FATF blacklist	+25
FATF Increased Monitoring	Countries on FATF grey list	+15
High Corruption	CPI score < 30	+20
Tax Haven	Non-cooperative jurisdictions	+10

Current FATF Lists (October 2025)

Black List (Call for Action):

• Iran (IR)
• North Korea (KP)
• Myanmar (MM)

Grey List (Increased Monitoring) - 21 Countries:

Country	Code	Risk Score
Syria	SY	85
Yemen	YE	80
South Sudan	SS	75
Lebanon	LB	70
Venezuela	VE	70
DR Congo	CD	65
Haiti	HT	65
Algeria	DZ	60
Angola	AO	60
Bolivia	BO	60
Cameroon	CM	60
Côte d'Ivoire	CI	60
Lao PDR	LA	60
Vietnam	VN	60
British Virgin Islands	VG	55
Bulgaria	BG	55
Kenya	KE	55
Namibia	NA	55
Nepal	NP	55
Monaco	MC	50

Removed from Grey List (2025):

• Philippines (Feb 2025)
• Croatia, Mali, Tanzania (June 2025)
• Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa (Oct 2025)

Viewing Country Risk

Get Country Risk Rating

curl -X GET "https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/country-risk/{country_code}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response

{
  "country_code": "RU",
  "country_name": "Russia",
  "risk_level": "high",
  "risk_score": 75,
  "factors": {
    "sanctions": {
      "status": "sectoral",
      "programs": ["OFAC Russia", "EU Russia"],
      "contribution": 30
    },
    "fatf": {
      "status": "increased_monitoring",
      "contribution": 15
    },
    "corruption": {
      "cpi_score": 28,
      "contribution": 20
    },
    "aml_effectiveness": {
      "rating": "low",
      "contribution": 10
    }
  },
  "restrictions": [
    "Enhanced due diligence required",
    "Senior management approval needed",
    "Certain sectors prohibited"
  ],
  "last_updated": "2025-01-15T00:00:00Z"
}

List All Countries

curl -X GET "https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/country-risk?risk_level=high" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Country Risk Configuration

Custom Risk Levels

Override default risk levels:

curl -X PUT https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/settings/country-risk \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "overrides": [
      {
        "country_code": "NG",
        "risk_level": "high",
        "risk_score": 65,
        "reason": "Elevated fraud risk in our customer base"
      },
      {
        "country_code": "SG",
        "risk_level": "low",
        "risk_score": 15,
        "reason": "Strong AML framework, low fraud history"
      }
    ]
  }'

Block Countries

Completely block applicants from certain countries:

curl -X PUT https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/settings/country-risk/blocked \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "blocked_countries": ["CU", "IR", "KP", "SY"],
    "block_reason": "Comprehensive sanctions - cannot onboard",
    "block_action": "reject",
    "allow_exceptions": false
  }'

Require Enhanced Due Diligence

Configure EDD for FATF grey list countries:

curl -X PUT https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/settings/country-risk/edd-required \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "edd_countries": [
      "SY", "YE", "SS", "LB", "VE", "CD", "HT",
      "DZ", "AO", "BO", "CM", "CI", "LA", "VN",
      "VG", "BG", "KE", "NA", "NP", "MC"
    ],
    "edd_requirements": [
      "source_of_funds",
      "source_of_wealth",
      "senior_approval"
    ]
  }'

Country Risk Rules

Auto-Escalate High-Risk Countries

curl -X POST https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/workflows/rules \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "rule_id": "escalate_high_risk_country",
    "trigger": "applicant_created",
    "conditions": {
      "any": [
        {"field": "nationality_risk_level", "operator": "eq", "value": "high"},
        {"field": "residence_risk_level", "operator": "eq", "value": "high"}
      ]
    },
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "add_flag",
        "flag": "high_risk_geography"
      },
      {
        "type": "create_case",
        "case_type": "aml",
        "priority": "high",
        "title": "High-Risk Country Review"
      }
    ]
  }'

Block Sanctioned Countries

curl -X POST https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/workflows/rules \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "rule_id": "block_sanctioned_country",
    "trigger": "applicant_created",
    "conditions": {
      "any": [
        {"field": "nationality", "operator": "in", "value": ["CU", "IR", "KP", "SY"]},
        {"field": "residence_country", "operator": "in", "value": ["CU", "IR", "KP", "SY"]}
      ]
    },
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "update_status",
        "status": "rejected",
        "reason": "Sanctioned jurisdiction"
      },
      {
        "type": "send_notification",
        "template": "sanctioned_country_block"
      }
    ]
  }'

Residence vs Nationality

Different risk weights can apply:

Factor	Description	Typical Weight
Nationality	Country of citizenship	Higher weight
Residence	Current country of residence	Standard weight
Birth Country	Country of birth	Lower weight
Address Country	Provided address location	Standard weight

Configure Weights

curl -X PUT https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/settings/country-risk/weights \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "nationality_weight": 1.0,
    "residence_weight": 0.8,
    "birth_country_weight": 0.3,
    "address_weight": 0.8,
    "use_highest": true
  }'

Risk Data Sources

TrustGate aggregates data from:

Source	Data Provided
OFAC	US sanctions lists and programs
EU Sanctions	European Union consolidated list
UN Sanctions	United Nations Security Council
FATF	AML/CFT effectiveness ratings
Transparency International	Corruption Perception Index
Tax Justice Network	Financial secrecy rankings
World Bank	Governance indicators

Updates and Monitoring

Automatic Updates

Country risk data updates automatically:

• Sanctions lists: Real-time
• FATF status: When published (typically quarterly)
• CPI scores: Annually
• Internal scoring: Monthly review

Country Risk Alerts

Get notified of changes:

curl -X POST https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/webhooks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://your-system.com/webhooks",
    "events": ["country_risk.updated", "country_risk.sanctions_change"],
    "active": true
  }'

Alert Payload

{
  "event": "country_risk.updated",
  "country_code": "VE",
  "previous_risk_level": "high",
  "new_risk_level": "critical",
  "change_reason": "New OFAC sanctions program announced",
  "effective_date": "2025-01-20",
  "affected_applicants_count": 45
}

Remediation

Review Affected Applicants

When country risk changes:

curl -X GET "https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/applicants?country=VE&status=approved" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Bulk Review

curl -X POST https://api.bytrustgate.com/v1/applicants/bulk/flag \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filter": {
      "nationality": "VE",
      "status": "approved"
    },
    "action": {
      "add_flag": "country_risk_review",
      "create_case": true,
      "case_type": "aml",
      "case_title": "Country Risk Change Review"
    }
  }'

Best Practices

1. Review regularly: Check country risk settings quarterly
2. Document rationale: Record reasons for custom overrides
3. Monitor changes: Subscribe to sanctions and FATF updates
4. Test rules: Verify country rules work as expected
5. Train staff: Ensure team understands geographic restrictions

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Next Steps

• About Risk Scoring - Overview
• Risk Factors - All risk factors
• Workflow Rules - Automate decisions