Recital 85

(85) Compliance weaknesses in both the legal and institutional AML/CFT framework and its implementation in third countries which are subject to ‘increased monitoring’ by the FATF are susceptible to be exploited by criminals. This is likely to represent a risk for the Union’s financial system, and that risk needs to be managed and mitigated. The commitment of those third countries to address identified weaknesses, while not eliminating the risk, justifies a mitigating response less severe than that applicable to high-risk third countries. Where such third countries commit to address identified weaknesses, obliged entities should apply enhanced due diligence measures to occasional transactions and business relationships when dealing with natural persons or legal entities established in those third countries that are tailored to the specific weaknesses identified in each third country. Such granular identification of the enhanced due diligence measures to be applied would, in line with the risk-based approach, also ensure that the measures are proportionate to the level of risk. To ensure such consistent and proportionate approach, the Commission should be able to identify which specific enhanced due diligence measures are required in order to mitigate country-specific risks. Given AMLA’s technical expertise, it can provide useful input to the Commission to identify the appropriate enhanced due diligence measures.

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Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-09-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.