European Commission Publishes AML, Terrorist Financing Guidance, Measures
The European Commission published a list of measures to strengthen the European Union’s effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The commission’s goal is to “shut down any remaining loopholes and remove any weak links in the EU's rules,” according to a May 7 notice, which includes a “methodology” to help countries identify “high-risk third countries” and a list of countries with “strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks.”
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The commission also issued a question-and-answer guidance on the measures, saying anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules are “not applied in a fully coherent manner across the EU.” The Commission also said there has been a rise in “criminal activities” during the COVID-19 pandemic. “There is a clear need to tackle this lack of coherence and ensure a more harmonized implementation of the rules across the EU,” the notice said.