EU adds Saudi Arabia to money laundering, terrorism financing list

THE European Commission added Saudi Arabia to a blacklist of nations over lax controls on terrorism financing and money laundering, aiming “to protect the EU financial system by better preventing money laundering and terrorist financing risks,” a statement by the commission said.

THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday proposed adding seven countries including Saudi Arabia to the EU’s money-laundering blacklist of governments that do too little to thwart the financing of terrorism and organized crime. The proposal must now be approved by European Parliament and the 28 member states, with opposition from France and Britain against the new list. Despite pressure to exclude Riyadh from the list, the commission decided to list the kingdom, confirming a Reuters report in January.

The addition of Saudi Arabia to the list came amid tensions between Riyadh and European capitals heightened by the murder last year of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The outrage over the killing has increased scrutiny on Riyadh’s role in conflicts in the region, potentially giving Western powers, which provide arms and intelligence to the Saudi-led coalition, greater impetus for action.

“We have put in place the highest standards in the world in the fight against money laundering,” said European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova. “But we must ensure that dirty money from other countries does not end up in our financial system,” she told a press conference at the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg.

“Dirty money is the driving force behind organized crime and terrorism,” Jourova continued, urging countries on the list to “quickly remedy their shortcomings.”

Inclusion on the list does not trigger sanctions, but apart from reputational damage, inclusion on the list complicates financial relations with the EU. The bloc’s banks will have to carry out additional checks on payments involving entities from listed jurisdictions.

The commission also added Libya, Botswana, Ghana, Samoa, the Bahamas and the four United States territories of American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam. The other listed states are Afghanistan, North Korea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Guyana, Laos, Uganda and Vanuatu were removed.