EU rejects adding Saudi Arabia to money-laundering list

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) - Envoys from the 28 EU member states rejected a proposal Thursday to add Saudi Arabia to a list of countries suspected of money laundering and financing terror groups.

The Council of the EU rejected the list because it was unclear and contained inadequate information.

" [The Council] cannot support the current proposal that was not established in a transparent and resilient process that actively incentivizes affected countries to take decisive action while also respecting their right to be heard," it said in a statement.

It emphasized the EU Commission will now have to propose a new draft of high-risk third countries that will address members' concerns.

The EU Commission submitted Feb. 13 a draft of a list 23 countries that were inadequately combating money laundering.

The objective is to protect the EU financial system from risks of money laundering and terrorist financing coming from third countries, according to the statement.

There was no comment from any of the listed countries on the allegations.