The European Council has unanimously rejected a draft list published on February 13, 2019 by the European Commission. The draft list was created pursuant to the 5th Directive on Anti-money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, which requires the European Union to identify non-EU jurisdictions that have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regimes. The Council justified its decision on the grounds that the list was not established through a transparent process “that actively incentivises affected countries to take decisive action while also respecting their right to be heard.” The United States Department of the Treasury criticized the EC list when it was released in February 2019.
March 7, 2019