The European Union (EU) is set to remove the UAE from its list of high-risk countries for money laundering, a move the Gulf nation has long been advocating for.

According to Bloomberg, the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, has removed the UAE from its list of “high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regimes.”

However, the decision must still be approved by both the EU member states and the European Parliament, which previously blocked a similar proposal in 2023.

Maria Luis Albuquerque, the EU’s Commissioner for Financial Services, stated that the update “reiterates our strong commitment to aligning with international standards,” particularly those established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which removed the UAE from its own ‘grey list’ for increased monitoring last year.

The UAE has repeatedly voiced its discontent over being included on the EU’s so-called blacklist, and its removal comes at a time when the bloc and the Gulf country have agreed to begin free trade negotiations.

Other jurisdictions taken off the EU’s list include Barbados, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Panama, the Philippines, Senegal, and Uganda. Meanwhile, Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal, and Venezuela were newly added.

Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Middle East, based on image by David Rodrigo via Unsplash