The Commission has a mandate to carry out an autonomous assessment and identify the high-risk third countries under the Fourth and Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directives so as to safeguard the EU financial system by better preventing money laundering and terrorist financing risks. The country list would serve as an indication for credit institutions and other entities covered by EU anti-money laundering rules to apply increased due diligence checks on financial operations involving customers and institutions from these high-risk third countries. The Commission concluded that 23 countries have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering/counter terrorist financing regimes.
European Commission's Press Release
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