#UAE Makes Stride Toward Removal From EU’s Dirty Money Risk List - Bloomberg

UAE Makes Stride Toward Removal From EU’s Dirty Money Risk List - Bloomberg

The United Arab Emirates is set to exit the European Union’s “black list” of countries with deficient controls over illicit money flows, after the bloc’s lawmakers approved a revision to the ledger.

The European Parliament voted in favor of a review proposed by the bloc’s executive arm in June, which took the UAE off the list of high-risk jurisdictions for money-laundering and terrorism financing. The update will come into force if EU member states do not raise an objection.

The move follows in the footsteps of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force — a global dirty-money watchdog — which removed the UAE from its list for ‘increased monitoring’ last year. The exit from the EU’s register would pave the way for smoother capital flows and potentially lower compliance costs for Wall Street banks with local offices.

The EU regularly assesses third countries’ efforts against money laundering and the financing of international terrorism. But the UAE had previously raised concerns about remaining in the list after the country was dropped by global watcher FATF. A previous effort by the European Commission was blocked by lawmakers.

The UAE welcomed the parliament’s decision saying that it looks forward “to unlocking the full potential of the UAE-EU partnership, fostering closer cooperation, enhanced prosperity and shared security for our regions and peoples,” according to Minister of State Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh.

Ahead of the vote, EU financial services commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque told lawmakers the commission will consider until the end of the year whether there was a case for adding other countries that are not members of the Financial Action Task Force to the list. She was referencing to Russia in particular, according to a person familiar with the commission’s plan.

The parliament accepted the removal of several other countries from the EU’s list: Barbados, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Panama, Philippines, Senegal and Uganda. The inclusion of Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal and Venezuela was also passed.