The Commission has today issued amendments to the country lists in Appendix C and Appendix I of the Handbook on Countering Financial Crime and Terrorist Financing reflecting the Financial Action Task Force’s updated list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, which includes Bulgaria. FATF has removed Albania, Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, therefore these countries have also been removed from Appendix I with the exception of Panama, as it is listed by other relevant external sources.
The Handbook amendments include the removal of Bulgaria from the list of equivalent jurisdictions in Appendix C and its addition to the list of countries and territories identified in Appendix I which may present a higher risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.
At the same time an instruction is issued to all specified businesses specifying the steps to be taken before the end of March 2024 in respect of business relationships they have which are connected to Bulgaria.
Some of the other sources used in the compilation of Appendix I have updated their assessments which have also led to the addition of Kazakhstan and the removal of Kosovo.
The clean and tracked version of the Handbook (including Appendix I) can be accessed via the Handbook page, with Appendix I and the Bulgaria Instruction both available on the Notices, Instructions & Warnings page.
The FATF page on High-Risk and Other Monitored Jurisdictions can be found here.
