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Politico: EU to add Russia to high-risk money-laundering and terror-financing blacklist

03 December 2025 18:20 (UTC +04:00)

The EU is adding Russia to its blacklist of countries at high risk of money laundering and financing terrorism, POLITICO reported, citing two EU officials and a document seen by the outlet, APA reports.

Report notes that although the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) suspended Russia’s membership after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the watchdog did not blacklist the country despite evidence submitted by the Ukrainian government. This was due to opposition from BRICS member states, including Brazil, India, China and South Africa.

According to POLITICO, EU lawmakers had repeatedly urged the European Commission to take a step that FATF was unable to take. Earlier this year, the Commission committed to completing a review by the end of 2025 in order to gain support for removing the United Arab Emirates and Gibraltar from the list.

POLITICO says it has seen a draft of the decision on Russia, which will be added as an annex to the blacklist.

Other internal Commission documents note that the assessment process was complicated by the lack of information-sharing with Moscow.

Although the EU already enforces extensive sanctions severely restricting Russian access to EU financial services, the new blacklisting coincides with efforts to overcome Belgium’s objections to using revenues from Russia’s frozen assets to support Ukraine.

The move will require financial institutions to apply enhanced due diligence to all transactions and will force banks that have not yet done so to further reduce risks.

Typically aligning itself with FATF decisions, the EU will from this year rely on its new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will take part in drafting the blacklist from July 2027.

POLITICO also reports that Dutch official Hennie Verbeek-Kusters, former chair of the Egmont Group — the global financial intelligence cooperation body — is expected to join AMLA’s executive board following a positive closed-door hearing with lawmakers. A vote on her appointment is scheduled for December 15, a third EU official said.