Brussels, 14/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 14 July, the European Commission made a proposal for a list of 11 third countries whose instruments to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism present deficiencies which threaten the European financial system (EUROPE 11587, 11586).
North Korea presents ongoing and substantial risks of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and has on several occasions neglected to remedy the deficiencies observed by the OECD's FATF group. Iran, a high-risk country, has undertaken to remedy its deficiencies and will have the benefit of technical assistance to implement the FATF action plan. A further nine high-risk third countries (Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Guiana, Iraq, Laos, Syria, Uganda, Vanuatu and Yemen) have made written political commitments to remedy the deficiencies noted and have drawn up an action plan with the FATF.
This list, which complies with the requirements of the fourth 'anti-money-laundering' directive (2015/49) (EUROPE 11220), will require European banks to carry out additional due diligence on financial flows from these countries.
“To put Europe at the forefront of the global fight against money laundering, we have proposed a common European set of stricter checks in relation to financial flows from these countries”, said the Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, Vera Jourová, in a press release.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU now have one month, renewable once, to object to the Commission's proposal. If no objection is forthcoming, the list will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will apply three days after the publication. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)