Attorney General Dale Marshall has welcomed the European Union’s (EU) decision to remove Barbados from its list of high-risk third countries, calling it a major breakthrough for the island’s global financial standing.
The move becomes official on August 5, following the publication of the delegated legislation in the EU’s Official Journal. Marshall said the removal comes more than a year after Barbados was taken off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, which had automatically triggered its delisting by the United Kingdom.
“This has been a long time in coming,” he said. “The practical effect is that EU financial institutions no longer need to conduct enhanced due diligence on transactions from Barbados. That burden led to EU banks avoiding business with Barbadian companies, affecting both personal and commercial transactions. Some businesses were even forced to shut down.”
Marshall explained that the delay was due to objections from EU member states to the removal of other countries, which under the bloc’s “all or nothing” rule, stalled Barbados’ removal.
He credited Barbados’ eventual success to sweeping reforms aimed at strengthening the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks.
“This administration has made an extraordinary investment in our institutions… all to make sure that Barbados is able to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism,” he said. “We can now enjoy some stability and predictability in our commercial activity within the EU.”
 decision to remove Barbados from its list of high-risk third countries.){kind=link}