On 14 March 2024, the European Commission (Commission) adopted a Delegated Regulation amending Delegated Regulation 2016/1675 as regards adding Kenya and Namibia to the table in point I of the Annex and deleting Barbados, Gibraltar, Panama, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates from that table.
Article 9(2) of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4MLD) empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts to identify those third-country jurisdictions that are high-risk and have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering / countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes. On 14 July 2016, the Commission adopted Delegated Regulation 2016/1675 which identified a number of such high-risk third countries. This delegated regulation has been subsequently amended several times.
At its plenary meeting in February 2024 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) updated its list of ‘Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring’ by adding Kenya and Namibia to its list and removing Barbados, Gibraltar, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.
The Commission considers that Kenya and Namibia have strategic deficiencies in their respective AML/CFT regimes. The Commission has also taken into account the fact that these countries were identified in the FATF list of ‘Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring’ in February 2024. The Commission therefore considers that Kenya and Namibia meet the criteria set in Article 9(2) of 4MLD. These countries should therefore be added to the list in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 of high-risk third countries.
The Commission has also reviewed progress in addressing the strategic deficiencies of Barbados, Gibraltar, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates, based on the requirements of the 4MLD. The Commission considers that these jurisdictions no longer have strategic deficiencies in their respective AML/CFT frameworks and do not pose a significant threat to the financial system of the EU.
The FATF removed Panama from its list in October 2023, but Panama remained identified by the EU as a high-risk third country due to further strategic deficiencies, notably with regard to transparency of beneficial ownership. Available information sources have since enabled the Commission to conclude that Panama has now addressed such deficiencies.
The Delegated Regulation enters into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.