Lists of risky countries may impose two new obligations on Romanian companies

In February 2025, the list of countries where there is a risk of money laundering, and the list of fiscally non-cooperative countries were updated.

Key takeaways:

• The Money Laundering Country Risk List is compiled and regularly updated by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering and is divided into a “black” list of jurisdictions with a high risk of money laundering and a “grey” list of jurisdictions that are under monitoring due to the risk of money laundering but have committed to address their problems
• The list of fiscally non-cooperative countries is drawn up and regularly updated by the EU Council and is divided into a “black” list of fiscally non-cooperative jurisdictions (risk of fraud, evasion and money laundering) and a “grey” list of jurisdictions under monitoring but which have committed to tackle their cooperation problems

The list of countries at risk of money laundering currently includes:

• black list: North Korea, Iran and Myanmar
• grey list: South Africa, Algeria, Angola, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Congo, Croatia, Haiti, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Mali, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen

The list of fiscally non-cooperative countries includes:

• black list: Anguilla, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Russia, Samoa, American Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu and the United States Virgin Islands
• grey list: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Brunei, the British Virgin Islands, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Turkey and Vietnam

Both lists may result in Romanian companies being obliged to file an annual beneficial ownership declaration, while the second list may also influence the tax outcome for corporate taxpayers. 

Source: Press release published on 21.02.2025 on The Financial Action Task Force website, Calendar – EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions