Reforming EU blacklisting : how to increase the effectiveness and avoid politicisation of the EU list of high-risk jurisdictions for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing : US experience and considerations for EU reform.

The EU blacklist of high-risk jurisdictions for money laundering is being criticised for a lack of autonomy from the FATF lists, politicisation and lobbying, and lack of transparency. The paper shows four ways to change this. More autonomy from the FATF can be reached through grey listing or merging the EU money laundering list with the EU tax list. More transparency can be reached by involving NGOs or academics to do the listing. But all these lists only look at the framework of anti-money laundering policy. When looking at the actual behaviour of launderers, criminological findings should be included. This can be accomplished by leveraging various agencies, like the US International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) list. Lists differ substantially from each other and cover more than half of the world. To achieve both autonomy and transparency and to prevent politicisation, a research institute similar to the IMF could be established, for example, in the newly planned anti money laundering agency AMLA. Here an encompassing alert system of money laundering, including persons, sectors, entities, and countries could become an EU support for Member States. This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). Read More