Maputo, 5 Dec (AIM) – The European Commission on Thursday removed Mozambique from the European Union’s list of high-risk jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in combating financial crime, where it had been included since 2023, following an update from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The FATF had put Mozambique on its “grey list” in 2022. This is officially known as “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring”, covering countries identified by the FATF as having strategic deficiencies in their measures to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Countries on this list are subject to increased monitoring and scrutiny by the FATF. The list is intended to serve as a warning to the countries concerned to improve their performance and comply with international standards.
Mozambique was removed from the “grey list” last October during a plenary session of the FATF, held in Paris. It had been included on the “grey list” in 2022.
According to a statement, alongside Mozambique, other jurisdictions removed from the list at the same meeting included Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania.
“The European Commission has today removed Mozambique from the list. The Commission today updated its list of high-risk jurisdictions”, reads the Commission’s document. The EU has also added new jurisdictions to the list, including Bolivia and the British Virgin Islands.
“The Commission remains closely involved in monitoring the progress of listed jurisdictions, supporting them in fully implementing their respective action plans agreed with the FATF”, reads the document.
The FATF also has a “black list” of countries. In these cases, other jurisdictions can be called upon to apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from the money laundering or terrorist financing emanating from the blacklisted countries. Currently, only three countries are on the black list – North Korea, Iran and Myanmar.
(AIM)
Ad/pf (306)
