EU to add Panama, Bahamas, and others to money-laundering blacklist

The European Commission has included Mauritius, Panama, and ten other states to its list of countries that present a financial risk to the association due to shortcomings in anti-money laundering and terrorism financing laws.

Panama, Bahamas, Mauritius and others “pose significant threats to the financial system of the Union,” draft EU document says.

Ring any bells, dear @ICIJorg readers? #panamapapers #bahamasleaks #mauritiusleakshttps://t.co/NbzFXG4LrD

— Will Fitzgibbon (@WillFitzgibbon) May 6, 2020

The document, which is expected to be published today, also includes countries such as Botswana, Ghana, Jamaica, Myanmar, Mongolia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Barbados, and Zimbabwe to the EU listing.

According to the draft document, countries on the list, “pose significant threats to the financial system of the union.” Under European Union law, banks and other financial institutions are compelled to closely monitor their customers who have dealings with countries on the list.