22/07/2022 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission is in the process of updating the European ‘blacklist’ of high-risk countries for money laundering and may add the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the list (see EUROPE 12618/28). Contacted by EUROPE, a Commission spokeswoman noted on Thursday 21 July that “the Commission’s mandate is to identify high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime”. “The Financial Action Task Force lists are the basis for the EU list. The UAE was placed on the FATF list in February 2022”, she added. Two days earlier, via Twitter, MEP Damien Carême (Greens/EFA, French) welcomed the possible inclusion of the UAE on the EU list, highlighting its role in “Russian money laundering”. (AD)