The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, on Wednesday added Russia to its list of "high-risk third countries" with major deficiencies in their controls against financial crime.
The long-awaited move will see the bloc depart from the policies of the Financial Action Task Force, which keeps a global "gray list" of nations prone to illicit finance and blacklist of uncooperative jurisdictions. Neither include Russia, despite repeated requests from Ukraine and other nations.
"A technical assessment using well-defined methodologies and incorporating information collected from public sources, member states' competent authorities and the European External Action Service, […] concluded that Russia meets the criteria to be designated," the Commission said in a statement Wednesday.
Russia's listing follows sustained pressure from several member states and the European Parliament. In July, EU lawmakers only agreed to end a standoff over a previous iteration of the list after the Commission promised to review Russia's potential inclusion on the watchlist.
The Parliament and the Council of the EU, which represents the bloc's 27 national governments, have one month to object to Russia's listing, though such a move is widely seen as unlikely.
- Topics: Sanctions and Non-proliferation Finance
- Source: European Union, Russia
- Document Date: December 3, 2025
In Focus: Fraud Watch - December 2025 (JA Captioned)
