The European Commission has blacklisted several countries with weak laws against money laundering and terrorist financing activities.
They are the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica,Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe.
The nations that have been removed from the list are; Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Guyana, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia.
The Commission will now submit this list of countries to the European Parliament and Council for approval within one month, with a possible one-month extension, to allow affected nations to comply.
This refreshed list comes when the European Commission is renewing its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
This fresh and elaborate plan involves concrete measures the Commission will take over the next one year to better enforce, supervise, and coordinate its rules against these vices. The commission aims to seal the remaining loopholes and remove any weak links in the EU’s rules.
Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said: “We need to put an end to dirty money infiltrating our financial system. Today we are further bolstering our defenses to fight money laundering and terrorist financing, with a comprehensive and far-reaching Action Plan.”
The EU will also be strengthening its global role in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
This Action Plan for a Comprehensive EU policy on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, seeks to have harmonized rules on anti-money laundering and terror cash, ensure compliance and rope in the European Banking Authority (EBA)- to make full use of its new powers to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.
At present, it’s up to each Member State to police itself, leading to gaps in how the rules are supervised.
In the first quarter of 2021, the Commission will propose to set up an EU-level supervisor.
Coordination and support mechanism for Member State Financial Intelligence Units will also be formed with Financial Intelligence Units in each Member State playing a critical role in identifying transactions and activities that could be linked to criminal activities.
In the first quarter of 2021, the Commission will propose to establish an EU mechanism to help further coordinate and support the work of these bodies.
The Commission will enforce EU-level criminal law provisions and ensure proper information exchange. Judicial and police cooperation, says the Commission, will be critical in ensuring proper exchange of data and intelligence.
The European Commission (EC) is the executive branch of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing daily business of the union.
