ZCZC
BCN-33
EU-SAUDI-ECONOMY-CRIME
Brussels proposes adding Saudi Arabia to EU money laundering blacklist
BRUSSELS, Feb 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The European Commission on Wednesday
proposed adding seven countries including Saudi Arabia to the EU’s money-
laundering blacklist of governments that do too little to thwart the
financing of terrorism and organised crime.
The move comes as tensions between Riyadh and European capitals are
heightened over the murder last year of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the
Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The proposal must now be approved by the European Parliament and the 28
member states, with France and Britain against the new list.
The new countries targeted by the commission, including Saudi Arabia and
Panama, would join another 16 already on this register — such as Iran, Iraq,
Pakistan, Ethiopia and North Korea.
Inclusion on the list does not trigger sanctions, but it does oblige
European banks to apply tighter controls on transactions with customers and
institutions in those countries.
“We have put in place the highest standards in the world in the fight
against money laundering,” said European Commissioner for Justice Vera
Jourova.
“But we must ensure that dirty money from other countries does not end up
in our financial system,” she told a press conference at the European
Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg.
“Dirty money is the driving force behind organised crime and terrorism,”
Jourova continued, urging countries on the list to “quickly remedy their
shortcomings”.
A diplomat said objections to the new list were not linked to fallout from
the Khashoggi murder and a desire to appease Saudi Arabia.
There is not “an opposition to the addition of a particular country”, but
concerns over the “methodology” used.
MEP Eva Joly, a former investigating judge, welcomed the new list but
suggested the commission “publish the country assessments in order to
increase the transparency of the process and avoid accusations of political
bargaining.”
European countries such as Cyprus or the United Kingdom should also be on
the list, she said.
BSS/AFP/SR/1945 HRS