EU decides to add Russia to list of countries with high risk of money laundering - Politico

The EU is preparing to add Russia to the list of countries with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Politico has familiarized itself with the relevant document, and its authenticity was confirmed to journalists by two unnamed European officials. The document had not been officially posted at the time of publication.

The move, Politico points out, would oblige European financial institutions to step up scrutiny of all Russia-related transactions and "force banks that have not yet taken action to implement risk mitigation actions." However, their assessment may be complicated by the lack of information sharing with Moscow, according to other documents that have come into journalists' possession.

Following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), an intergovernmental organization that develops standards for combating money laundering, suspended Russia's membership in its ranks. However, it did not add it to its blacklist. Politico attributes this to the opposition of the BRICS countries, which include, among others, Brazil, India, China and South Africa.

The EU, as the publication points out, "used to agree with FATF decisions," but since this year the EU has its own Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA, Anti-Money Laundering Authority). It is expected that this organization will start to participate in the development of "blacklists" from July 2027.

The EU has already imposed numerous sanctions that significantly limit the access of Russian companies and individuals to European financial services. The blacklisting of Russia comes amid the EU's attempts to agree on the use of proceeds from Moscow's frozen assets to finance Ukraine.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor