On Thursday 7 May, the European Commission is due to present its new delegated act updating the European 'blacklist’ of non-Member States whose anti-money laundering systems are deficient and thereby threaten the European financial system. According to a draft text, a copy of which has been obtained by EUROPE, 22 countries should be in the EU's sights.
The delegated act mainly modifies the current list to align it with the list drawn up by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Much more eagerly awaited, the delegated act intended to update the European list—this time on the basis of the Commission's new methodology (see EUROPE 12467/19), which will also be presented on Thursday—is not expected to be adopted until later this year, possibly in October.
So far, 16 countries are on the list. In 2016, the European Commission published an initial list (see EUROPE 11594/4) that included 11 countries (North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guyana, Iraq, Laos, Syria, Uganda, Vanuatu and Yemen). It made several changes by adding Ethiopia, then Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago (see EUROPE 11956/4) and finally Pakistan (see EUROPE 12094/31).
With the exception of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guyana, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Laos and Sri Lanka, they are all likely to keep their place on the 'blacklist’. These six countries, which have been removed from the FATF list, no longer have strategic deficiencies according to the European Commission.
While Afghanistan, Iraq, Vanuatu and Trinidad and Tobago have been removed from the FATF list, the Commission clearly intends to keep them on its list, being of the opinion that the available sources of information do not allow it to conclude at this stage that these countries have remedied their deficiencies.
Conversely, while the FATF has publicly identified Albania as a risk country, the European Commission had decided not to add it to their list, instead considering mitigation measures in the context of the country's EU accession negotiations.
In addition, 12 new countries, all listed by the FATF, are expected to join the EU list, namely the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe.
Compared to the list rejected by the EU Council in 2019 (see EUROPE 12209/12), Nigeria, Libya, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam are therefore missing, all of whom have been identified according to the Commission's new assessment method (see EUROPE 12193/28).
The list does not prohibit trade with these countries, but requires European banks to carry out additional checks on financial flows coming from these countries.
Nevertheless, the addition of non-Member States to the list will only be effective from 1 October 2020. “Taking into account the very exceptional and unpredictable situation arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has an impact at global scale and is very likely to lead to disruptions in the proper functioning of economic operators and competent authorities alike, the date of application of this Regulation concerning the addition of third countries should allow sufficient time for its effective implementation in these circumstances”, specifies the text.
In addition to the delegated act and its new methodology, the European Commission is also due on Thursday to publish its action plan (see EUROPE 12447/21) to strengthen the fight against money laundering in the EU. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)