EU Removes UAE from ‘High-Risk’ Money-Laundering List

On June 10, the European Union announced that it is removing the UAE from the list that shows high-risk countries for money laundering. At the same time, it added Monaco and 9 other countries to a list of places that need stronger Anti-Money Laundering to remove the risk of money laundering because it affects the country massively. Besides the UAE, the EU also removed some other countries from the list.

The changes happened after a global group said in February that the Philippines was taken off its watchlist, and Nepal as well as Laos were added. The group, called the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), is based in Paris and checks if countries are doing enough to stop money crimes and terrorist funding. It has the “grey list” for countries that need more monitoring. Monaco was added to this list in middle of 2024, along with two EU countries, Bulgaria as well as Croatia.

Maria Luis Albuquerque, the EU’s Financial Services Commissioner, said the new list is the part of the EU’s ongoing work to fight financial crime and follow global rules. She also said the update shows the EU is serious about meeting the international standards, especially those set by the FATF, which aim to stop money laundering and terrorist funding.

The updated list of high risk money-laundering countries has been sent to the European Parliament and EU member state governments for review. If no one objects on the updated list, then it will be made official and put into use within a month.

The government of Monaco shared a statement saying that it is aware of the recent changes and was expecting this update. The statement explained that Monaco will likely be added to the European Union’s list, but this is not final yet. This will go ahead only if both the European Parliament and the Council of the EU agree. If either one says no, Monaco may not be added to the list. It also emphasized that it is fully committed to taking all the needed actions to get off the FATF’s grey list as soon as possible.