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The European Commission has added Saudi Arabia, Panama, Nigeria and other jurisdictions to a blacklist of countries considered a threat due to lax controls over the financing of terrorism and money laundering. money, said Wednesday the EU executive.
This decision is part of the crackdown on money laundering after several scandals in EU banks, but several EU countries, most notably Britain, have worried about their economic relations with the listed states, including Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government said it regrets the decision in a statement issued by the Saudi News Agency, adding, "Saudi Arabia's commitment to fighting money laundering and terrorist financing is a priority strategic".
Panama said it should be removed from the list as it has recently adopted stricter anti-money laundering rules. Despite pressure to exclude Riyadh from the list, the commission decided to register the kingdom, confirming the Reuters report released in January.
In addition to the damage to the reputation, the inclusion on the list complicates financial relations with the EU. Banks in the bloc will have to carry out additional checks on payments involving entities from listed jurisdictions. The list now includes 23 jurisdictions out of a total of 16. The commission added adding jurisdictions with "strategic shortcomings in their anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regimes".
Other newcomers to the list are Libya, Botswana, Ghana, Samoa, the Bahamas and the four American territories of American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam. The other states mentioned are Afghanistan, North Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen. Bosnia, Guyana, Laos, Uganda and Vanuatu were abolished.
BAD FOR BUSINESS?
The 28 EU Member States now have one month, which can be extended to two, to approve the list. They could reject it by qualified majority. The European Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, who proposed the list, said at a press conference that she was confident that states would not block it. She said that it was urgent to act because "the risks spread like wildfire in the banking sector".
But the concerns remain. Britain, which plans to leave the EU on March 29, said Wednesday that the list could "confuse companies" because it departs from a more restricted list established by its group Financial Action (FATF), which is the global standard setter for money laundering. The FATF list includes 12 jurisdictions – all blacklisted in the European Union – but excludes Saudi Arabia, Panama and the United States. The FATF will update its list next week.
London has led the opposition to the EU list in recent days, and at closed meetings, urged the exclusion of Saudi Arabia, sources said. EU to Reuters.
The oil-rich kingdom is a major importer of EU goods and weapons and several major UK banks are present in the country. The Royal Bank of Scotland is the European bank that generates the largest business figure in Saudi Arabia, with around 150 million euros in 2015, according to public data.
HSBC is the most successful bank in Europe in Riyadh. It recorded profits of 450 million euros in 2015 in the kingdom, but did not reveal any turnover and does not employ any employees there, according to data. published in accordance with EU regulations. "The United Kingdom will continue to work with the Commission to ensure that the list entering into force provides businesses with certainty and is as effective as possible in combating illicit financing," said a spokesman for the UK Treasury .
LACK OF "WASHING MACHINES"
Criteria for blacklisting countries include weak sanctions against money laundering and terrorist financing, insufficient cooperation with the EU in this area and lack of transparency regarding beneficial owners of companies and trusts. Five of the listed countries are already on a separate blacklist of EU tax havens. These are Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago and the three American territories of American Samoa, Guam and the US Virgin Islands.
Critics said the list did not include several countries involved in money laundering scandals in Europe. "Some of the biggest dirty money washing machines are still missing. These include Russia, the city of London and its offshore territories, as well as Azerbaijan, "said Greens MEP Sven Giegold, member of the European Parliament's Special Committee on financial crime.
Jourova said the commission would continue to monitor other unregistered jurisdictions. The United States and Russia will be among the closely watched countries. (1 USD = 0.8861 euro)
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