The United Kingdom government has added Ghana to a list of 21 high-risk countries with unsatisfactory money laundering and terrorist financing controls.
The list of 21 countries, published by the UK government in the “Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (High-risk Countries) Regulations 2021”, has been approved by both houses of the UK Parliament.
The full list of high-risk countries is: Albania, Barbados, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Jamaica, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
According to the UK government, the countries in this category pose a threat because of their weak tax controls and a lack of checks and balances on terrorism financing and money laundering.
In effect
The list came into force on 26 March 2021 and was published as part of post-Brexit clarifications of Britain’s position.
Until the end of the Brexit transition period, the list of high-risk countries for money laundering was determined by the European Union under the fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Now, however, the UK has its own, standalone list.
The UK government said the new list of high-risk third countries has been issued for the purposes of making it possible to meet the requirements for carrying out enhanced customer due diligence.
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