EU names 4 African nations for financial crime watch list



[ad_1]

Ethiopia and Tunisia have been eliminated, but four African nations are now on a financial crime watch list issued by the European Union.

Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe are identified as high-risk countries for money laundering and the potential to finance terrorism, according to an EU statement. The additions are intended to align the EU’s effort to prevent financial crime with the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog group that also lists Uganda as a country of concern. .

“We need to end the dirty money that infiltrates our financial system,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, EU executive vice president for economic affairs, in presenting a comprehensive plan against money laundering.

“There should be no weak links in our rules and their implementation,” he added. “We are committed to complying with all these actions, quickly and constantly, over the next 12 months. We are also strengthening the EU’s global role in terms of shaping international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. “

The new EU plan is intended to coordinate how the rules are applied in the member states, which varies despite the fact that they extend to all the nations of the European Union. The EU also plans to establish a supervisory function to cover states comprehensively instead of current independent supervision within countries. The measures are aimed at addressing the gaps identified by the EU last year.

The new list of high-risk nations will now go to the European Parliament for approval within the next 60 days.

Image: European Union



[ad_2]