By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE EU has pushed back an update to its ‘blacklist’ of high-risk countries with weak anti-money laundering (AML) measures.
Monaco faces being added, according to media reports. However, senior officials in Monaco have said suggestions this would be done as a punitive measure were “bad journalism”.
The European Commission said the delay was due to “internal administrative procedures reasons”. It declined to comment on any changes to the list.
The EU list of ‘high-risk third countries’ identifies jurisdictions with “strategic deficiencies” in their AML regimes.
The European Commission was due to publish a proposal for an update to the list. This would then have to be validated by the European Parliament.
Maria Luís Albuquerque, the EU Financial Services commissioner, was due to appear before European Parliament committees today with details of the Commission’s proposals.
However, the appearance before the ECON (economy) and LIBE (justice) committee was cancelled.
In a statement to AML Intelligencethe European Commission said: “The delay was due to internal administrative procedures reasons. The adoption is scheduled for the beginning of next week.”
A spokesperson for the European Parliament said: “We were expecting the Commission to publish a proposal for an update to the EU’s money-laundering high-risk third countries.
“[This] would have been followed by a committee debate between Commissioner Albuquerque and MEPs.”
The spokesperson added: “Now, it is up to the Commission to make the proposal. Once they do, Parliament and Council can object to it within one month.”
EU money laundering ‘blacklist’
The EU list of ‘high risk’ jurisdictions normally closely aligns with the ‘grey’ and ‘black’ lists published by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). It is commonly referred to as a ‘blacklist’.
The FATF is a non-governmental organization which effectively sets international AML standards.
The me has previously been criticized for too closely following updates to FATF lists.
Regarding the EU’s own ‘blacklist’ – this has not been updated since December 2023.
In June 2024, the European principality of Monaco was added to the FATF greylist.
French publication La Lettre reported that the European Commission has now proposed adding Monaco to the EU list of ‘high risk’ jurisdictions.
This news was subsequently reported in other publications, which said the EU was preparing to ‘blacklist’ Monaco.
Pierre-André Chiappori, Monaco’s Minister of Finance, claimed that Monaco’s potential addition to the list has been reported in “an extremist tone.”
He said the assertion Monaco would be added to the list as a punitive measure was “an example of bad journalism.”
According to the Monaco Daily News, Chiappori said Monaco’s potential inclusion on the EU high risk list would be “procedural”, due to how the EU tends to follow the FATF.
The EU is considering breaking from its close alignment with the FATF. In November, former EU Financial Services commissioner Mairead McGuinness said the EU was considering adding Russia to its blacklist. The FATF has declined to blacklist Russia, despite repeated requests from Ukraine.
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