The European Union executive yesterday named Nigeria, Ghana, Saudi Arabia and Panama in a proposed European Union blacklist of nations seen as posing a threat because of lax controls on terrorism financing and money laundering.
The move is part of a crackdown on money laundering after several scandals at EU banks but has been criticised by several EU countries including Britain that is worried about their economic relations with the listed states, notably Saudi Arabia.
The criteria used to blacklist countries include low sanctions against money laundering and terrorism financing, insufficient cooperation with the EU on the matter and lack of transparency over the beneficial owners of companies and trusts.
The twenty-eight EU member states now have one month, which can be extended to two, to endorse the list.
Nigerian and Ghanaian officials are yet to react to the proposed blacklist but Saudi government said it regretted the decision in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, adding that Saudi
Arabia’s commitment to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism is a strategic priority.
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