EU Justice Chief Stands by Dirty Money List Targeting Saudis - Bloomberg

EU Justice Chief Stands by Dirty Money List Targeting Saudis - Bloomberg:

A European Commission money-laundering blacklist, which ranks Saudi Arabia as a high-risk country, is “the right thing” to fight money laundering and terrorist financing, the European Union’s justice chief argued as EU members states threatened to vote against the list this week.

The list of jurisdictions with inadequate controls on illicit transactions and terrorism financing was proposed by the EU’s executive authority last month and was quickly criticized by the U.S. Treasury as the result of a flawed process.

“I am absolutely convinced that we did the right thing,” EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova told a European Parliament committee Tuesday. “I personally gave a lot of commitments and promises to European people that we will efficiently fight against money-laundering and terrorist financing. Those who lobbied me very heavily before we adopted this list, maybe were not aware that for me these promises are a very strong motivation.”