The European Commission has updated its list of countries and jurisdictions deemed high‑risk for money laundering and terrorist financing – a move aimed at safeguarding the EU's financial system. This update means banks and other institutions covered by the EU’s anti‑money laundering rules must apply extra scrutiny when dealing with these jurisdictions.
Which countries were added?
A number of countries were identified as having strategic weaknesses in their anti‑money laundering and counter‑terrorism financing frameworks. They are
- Algeria
- Angola
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Monaco
- Namibia
- Nepal
- and Venezuela
Which countries were removed?
Other countries were deemed to have made enough progress to be delisted. They are
- Barbados
- Gibraltar
- Jamaica
- Panama
- the Philippines
- Senegal
- Uganda
- and the United Arab Emirates
The changes took into account the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard setter for money laundering and terrorist financing. As a founding member of the FATF, the Commission actively follows jurisdictions’ efforts in implementing their FATF action plans.
The updated list has been submitted as a delegated regulation. As neither the European Parliament nor the Council objected to it, the delegated regulation has now been published and will enter into force beginning of August.
The Commission has also recently introduced an amendment to this Delegated Regulation, committing to conclude by the end of the year the review of non‑EU countries that are not identified as being subject to calls for action or increased monitoring by the FATF, but whose membership in that international standard‑setter is suspended. Concluding such reviews will allow the Commission to make an informed decision in assessing whether it is necessary to amend its list of countries with AML/CFT deficiencies.
The Commission has taken this step to protect the integrity of the EU financial system. It has based its approach on the view that countries with suspended FATF membership can still pose a significant threat, particularly if their membership was suspended due to gross violations of core principles upon which the institution is built.
Related links
- Latest version of the list of high-risk third countries
- What the EU is doing on anti‑money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism
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Details
- Publication date
- 16 July 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union