On Tuesday 20 December, the European Commission suggested adding the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gibraltar, Mozambique, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates to the EU list of high-risk third country jurisdictions in terms of combating money laundering and terrorist financing (see EUROPE 13057/2).
Nicaragua, Pakistan and Zimbabwe have been removed from the list as they no longer present strategic deficiencies that pose a significant threat to the EU financial system.
In accordance with the fourth anti-money laundering directive (2015/849), the Commission is required to update this list regularly, taking into account the information provided by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) within the OECD during 2022. It is closely involved in monitoring the action plans of the respective countries concerned to remedy the shortcomings identified. In the meantime, European financial institutions are required to apply heightened vigilance to transactions involving high-risk third country jurisdictions.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have one month to decide on the draft delegated regulation adopted on Tuesday.
See the Commission’s proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/4qt (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)