Saudi Arabia, Panama in EU blacklist that pose threat in money laundering

The European Commission added Saudi Arabia, Panama and other jurisdictions to a blacklist of nations that pose a threat to the bloc because of lax controls against terrorism financing and money laundering, the EU executive said on Wednesday.

In total 23 jurisdictions are listed. They are Afghanistan, American Samoa, the Bahamas, Botswana, North Korea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guam, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, US Virgin Islands and Yemen.

Apart from reputational damage, inclusion on the list complicates financial relations with the EU. The bloc's banks will have to carry out additional checks on payments involving entities from listed jurisdictions.