On 7 January 2022, the European Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation that amends the list of high-risk third countries with strategic anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) deficiencies set out in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675. Delegated Regulation 2016/1675 is provided for under Article 9(2) of the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (4MLD) and identifies in an annex third countries that have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CTF regimes that pose significant threats to the financial system of the EU.
The Delegated Regulation now adopted by the Commission makes the following changes to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675:
- Burkina Faso, Cayman Islands, Morocco, Senegal, Haiti, the Philippines, South Sudan, Jordan and Mali are added to the list of third countries that are identified as having strategic AML and CTF deficiencies.
- Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, the Bahamas and Iraq are removed from the list of countries identified as having strategic AML and CTF deficiencies.
The Delegated Regulation also states that the Commission has developed further mitigating measures with Turkey in order to ensure alignment with the 4MLD. Subject to the implementation of the commitments taken by Turkey, the Commission considers that those additional mitigating measures sufficiently address the remaining deficiencies. Therefore, Turkey has not been added to the list of counties identified as having strategic AML and CTF deficiencies at this stage.
The Delegated Regulation will be submitted to the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to consider for approval. If neither objects, it will enter into force 20 days after it is published in the Official Journal of the European Union.