The EU will remove the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from its list of countries with a high risk of money laundering, as it adds Monaco and eight others including Venezuela, Kenya and Lebanon. The change still needs to be approved by the EU member states in Parliament.
The EU describes the list as “high-risk jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes”. EU Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque said the change “reiterates our strong commitment to aligning with international standards”.
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Last year, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), self-described as “the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog”, removed the UAE from its “increased monitoring” list.
While a country is on the FATF’s high-risk list, it is subject to increased monitoring. A 2021 study by the International Monetary Fund suggested countries on the list also experience a “large and statistically significant reduction in capital flows”.
Earlier this year, UAE officials expressed frustration with still being on the EU’s dirty money list, despite having been removed from the FATF’s.
“The question of the EU blacklist, this is a questions for them,” UAE Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri said during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I do not understand how the UAE is still on the black list.”
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By GlobalDataLast year, the European Parliament blocked an attempt to remove the UAE from the list. It pushed back again this past January, when Albuquerque pitched the UAE’s removal behind closed doors, according to Politico.
The UAE is targeting an annual foreign direct investment (FDI) intake of $65bn (Dh238.71bn) by 2031. Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said that FDI inflows reached $30.5bn in 2023.
