On May 7, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted a new Delegated Regulation to amend the list of high-risk third countries with strategic anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) deficiencies under the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (the Delegated Regulation).

The Delegated Regulation will:

  1. add third countries that have been identified as having strategic AML and CTF deficiencies to the high-risk list, being: the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar/Burma, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe; and
  2. remove third countries that no longer present strategic AML and CTF deficiencies from the high-risk list, being: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Guyana, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.

The Delegated Regulation requires adoption by the EU Council and EU Parliament before it goes into effect following publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

The Delegated Regulation is available here.

The Commission’s accompanying press release to the Delegated Regulation is available here.