On 28 March 2022, there was published on the legislation.gov.uk website The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (High-Risk Countries) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (No. 393) together with an explanatory memorandum.

This statutory instrument amends the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the MLRs) by substituting the list of high-risk third countries (in respect of which extra customer due diligence measures must be taken by relevant persons under the MLRs) in Schedule 3ZA for a new list. The new list of countries reflects those countries identified by the Financial Action Task Force in the ‘high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action’ and ‘jurisdictions under increased monitoring’ public statements released after the Plenary meeting of 2-4 March 2022.

The new Schedule 3ZA lists the following countries for the purposes of enhanced customer due diligence requirements in regulation 33(3): Albania, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Haiti, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Mali, Malta, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. United Arab Emirates is newly defined as a “high-risk third country” as a result of these Regulations. Zimbabwe no longer falls within this definition as a result of these Regulations.