EU Updates List of High-Risk Third Countries for Money Laundering Risks

The European Commission has recently updated its list regarding high-risk jurisdictions, highlighting the countries that present strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes.

EU entities governed by the AML framework must exercise enhanced due diligence when managing transactions connected to these high-risk jurisdictions to maintain the integrity of the EU financial system.

Several third‑country jurisdictions were included in the list, like Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal, and Venezuela.

Whereas some jurisdictions were delisted, including Barbados, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Panama, the Philippines, Senegal, Uganda, and the United Arab Emirates.

The European Commission is a founding member of FATF that performs a role in monitoring these jurisdictions to ensure that they implement the action plans agreed upon mutually.

According to the European Commission, the updated list takes into account the continued efforts of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international intergovernmental body tasked with fighting money laundering,  especially its list of “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring.”

The Commission stated that the EU’s adherence to international norms depends on its alignment with FATF.

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After considering feedback on the previous proposal, we carried out a thorough technical evaluation. This was based on precise standards and a well-defined process that gathered information from FATF reports, bilateral discussions,  and on-site assessments of the relevant jurisdictions.

According to Article 9 of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD IV), the Commission is mandated to update the list of high‑risk third‑country jurisdictions.

As per the press release of the European Commission, the latest update will take effect once it undergoes scrutiny and non-objection by the European Parliament and the Council within a month. This may extend to another month.