US Treasury comments on EU list of high-risk money laundering jurisdictions

The United States Department of the Treasury has criticized the European Commission’s recently published list of high-risk jurisdictions posing significant threats to the EU’s financial system.  In a press statement rejecting the inclusion of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands on the list, the Treasury notes that the Financial Action Task Force, composed of representatives of the US, the European Commission, 15 EU member states, and 20 other jurisdictions, follows a comprehensive process to develop its own list of high-risk jurisdictions with anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (CFT) deficiencies. According to the Treasury, the EC process was not sufficiently in-depth; offered affected jurisdictions only cursory bases for the Commission’s determination; gave the affected jurisdictions inadequate notice of their inclusion; and failed to provide the jurisdictions with the opportunity to challenge their inclusion. The Treasury further notes that it does not expect US financial institutions to take the EC list into account when formulating their AML/CFT policies and procedures.

Dept of the Treasure press statement | EC press release