Saudi Arabia's commitment to combating money laundering a strategic priority

Saudi Arabia said it regrets the European Commission's decision to include the country in a blacklist of nations seen as posing a threat to the bloc because of lax controls against terrorism financing and money laundering, a statement published by Saudi Press Agency said early on Thursday.

"Saudi Arabia's commitment to combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism is a strategic priority and we will continue to develop and improve our regulatory and legislative frameworks to achieve this goal", the statement quoted Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan as saying.