EU Aspirant Serbia No Longer on Money-Laundering Monitoring List

(Bloomberg) -- Serbia said it improved regulations and standards for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which helped an international watchdog remove the country from a list of risky jurisdictions.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force said on its website that the former Yugoslav republic is no longer the subject of special monitoring after addressing deficiencies that put it on the list in early 2018. The FATF said the country will work with its regional bodies as it keeps strengthening anti-money laundering practices and preventing the financing of terrorism.

The measures will help Serbia’s goal of joining the European Union, particularly regarding matters relating to the free movement of capital and financial services, Finance Minister Sinisa Mali told state broadcaster RTS. Serbia hopes to join the world’s biggest trading bloc by about 2025.

Serbia will adopt a new strategy on the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism by the end of this year, the government said in an email.

To contact the reporter on this story: Misha Savic in Belgrade at msavic2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Irina Vilcu at isavu@bloomberg.net, Nicholas Larkin, James Amott

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