The EU is believed to be about to add Saudi Arabia to its blacklist of countries failing to guard against money laundering effectively.

The move will force European banks to carry out more extensive compliance checks on transactions involving the country and its citizens. The EU is now finalising its 23 country list.

The move will mean European banks will need to carry out “enhanced” checks on transactions involving Saudi money. This is a much more intrusive level of vetting, the aim of which is to clarify the true origins of the money in question, as well as the beneficial owners of the companies in question where applicable. The banks must then follow procedure and report any suspicious activity.

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