On 12 July 2021, there was published on the legislation.gov.uk website The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (No. 2) (High-Risk Countries) Regulations 2021.

These Regulations amend the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRS) by substituting the list of high-risk third countries in Schedule 3ZA for a new list. The new list mirrors the updates made by the Financial Action Task Force to its own list of high-risk countries following its June Plenary.

The new Schedule 3ZA lists the following countries for the purposes of enhanced customer due diligence requirements: Albania, Barbados, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Haiti, Iran, Jamaica, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Haiti, Malta, Philippines and South Sudan are each newly defined as a “high-risk third country”. Ghana no longer falls within the definition of a “high-risk third country”. 

The Regulations came into force on 13 July 2021.