The Central Bank of Barbados published a message from the Attorney General confirming that Barbados has been removed from the European Union’s list of “high-risk third countries” after the European Parliament acknowledged improvements in the country’s legal and regulatory framework. The update states that the European Parliament’s acknowledgement on 10 June 2025 led to Barbados no longer being viewed as posing a threat to the Union’s financial system, and the relevant EU regulation entered into force on 5 August 2025, at which point Barbados ceased to be on the EU blacklist. It also notes that Barbados had addressed recommendations from its most recent Caribbean Financial Action Task Force mutual evaluation, was removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in February 2024, and subsequently resolved five technical compliance ratings to close out the fourth round of mutual evaluations with satisfactory scores on 38 of 40 FATF Recommendations. Barbados indicated it will continue to lobby for an EU process it views as fair while further strengthening its legal and regulatory framework to keep pace with FATF Standards.
Central Bank of Barbados 2025-08-06
Central Bank of Barbados announces Barbados delisted from the EU high-risk third country blacklist from 5 August 2025
The Central Bank of Barbados announced its removal from the EU's "high-risk third countries" list after legal and regulatory improvements. The European Parliament acknowledged this on 10 June 2025, effective 5 August 2025. Barbados addressed Caribbean Financial Action Task Force recommendations and improved FATF compliance, continuing to enhance its regulatory framework.