ISTANBUL
The European Commission listed Russia on Wednesday as a “high-risk” country due to "strategic deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks."
The designation followed a technical assessment using "well-defined methodologies" incorporating information from public sources, member states' authorities and the European External Action Service, the commission said in a statement.
"This assessment concluded that Russia meets the criteria to be designated as a high-risk third country," said the statement.
The commission said it is taking action "to preserve the integrity of the EU financial system" by adding Russia to its list of high-risk jurisdictions.
“This is a key step to ensure EU financial and non-financial operators apply stricter checks when dealing with Russian entities,” EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a post on the US social media company X’s platform.
EU entities covered by the anti-money laundering framework "are required to apply enhanced vigilance in transactions involving these jurisdictions."
The delegated regulation will enter into force after scrutiny by the European Parliament and European Council within one month, which can be extended for another month.
Russia has not immediately issued a response to the designation.