The European Commission today included Mozambique on the list of third country jurisdictions considered to be high risk due to strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regimes.

In a statement, the EU executive announced that it had updated the list, removing three jurisdictions, namely Nicaragua, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, but adding five: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gibraltar, Mozambique, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates.

"There is a need to continue to identify and list high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks, with a view to working closely with them to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing risks. This will help the countries involved in their efforts and protect the EU's financial system and the proper functioning of our single market," commented the Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness.

The EU list takes into account information provided by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the changes made by this institution during 2022 to its list of Jurisdictions under Enhanced Surveillance.

The Commission indicates that it is "closely involved in monitoring the progress made by the countries and territories listed and is working closely with them to reduce delays in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and to help them fully implement their respective action plans, as agreed with the FATF".

Thus, according to Lusa, European financial institutions and other entities are obliged to apply greater diligence in transactions involving third country jurisdictions placed on this high-risk list.