LONDON: Saudi Central Bank Governor Ahmed Al-Kholifey does not expect the EU’s decision to add his country to a list of “high risk” countries to have any impact for now, Al-Arabiya TV reported on Thursday.
The EU this week added Ƶ, Panama and four US territories on Wednesday to a blacklist of nations deemed to be posing a threat to the bloc because of poor controls against terrorism financing and money laundering.
Earlier Ƶ expressed its regret about the decision by the European Commission to place the Kingdom on a blacklist of 23 non-EU countries and territories accused of posing a high risk of money laundering and financing terrorism.
In response, Saudi authorities highlighted the efforts being made by the Kingdom to combat such crimes.
“The Kingdom finds it it regrettable that it was included in the proposed list of ‘high-risk’ countries for money laundering and terrorist financing that was issued by the European Commission on Feb. 13, 2019,” Saudi authorities said in a statement released by the Saudi Press Association.
“This comes despite the Kingdom’s ratification of many laws and procedures relating to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, to reduce the risks associated with such crimes.”
It added that the Kingdom reaffirms its strong commitment to the joint global efforts to combat money-laundering and the financing of terrorism, as part of which it works with international partners and allies.
“Ƶ, who is a key partner in the international coalition against Daesh, has been leading a group, along with the US and Italy, to fight the financing of the group,” the statement continued.
“The Saudi Mutual Evaluation Report, published by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in September 2018, praised Ƶ’s commitment to the group’s recommendations. The FATF report stated that the Kingdom’s preventive measures against money laundering and terrorist financing are strong and robust.”
