The EU has included Russia in the blacklist of jurisdictions with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing – what does this mean?
The relevant notice published by the European Commission appeared in the Official Journal of the Council of the European Union and entered into force 20 days after its publication. Inclusion in the list obliges EU financial institutions to apply enhanced due diligence to all transactions related to Russia and to introduce additional risk-mitigation measures.
The decision was taken autonomously and does not coincide with the position of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force), which had previously not included Russia in either its grey or black lists. It is also noted that Russia had not appeared on such lists since 2002.
Rosfinmonitoring described the move as politicized, stating that the document contains no specific claims regarding deficiencies in Russia’s AML/CFT system (anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing) and was prepared without the participation of the Russian side. The application of the EU decision is limited to entities falling under EU jurisdiction.
