KINGSTON, Jamaica — In a decisive 537-to-43 vote on 9 July 2025, the European Parliament endorsed the European Commission’s latest Delegated Regulation, striking Jamaica’s name from the European Union’s list of high-risk third countries for anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing (AML/CFT) shortcomings. The ruling mirrors last year’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “grey list,” completing Jamaica’s two-step rehabilitation on the global financial stage.
For Jamaican banks and corporates, the delisting is more than symbolic. EU-based counterparties are no longer required to apply the costly “enhanced due-diligence” regime mandated under Article 18a of the Fourth AML Directive. Analysts estimate immediate savings in compliance overheads and a thinner risk premium on euro-denominated trade finance.
Foreign Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, addressing MEPs via video link, called the vote “an unequivocal signal that Jamaica’s reforms are working.” She credited “relentless, coordinated advocacy” in Brussels and within CARICOM for pushing the measure across the finish line.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, chairing the CARICOM Heads of Government only a day earlier, framed the breakthrough as proof that “a single Caribbean voice can move markets”—adding that the clean bill of health unlocks fresh headroom for investment and correspondent-banking partnerships.
How Jamaica Got Here
- 2015-2019: FATF mutual-evaluation flags material weaknesses in supervision and beneficial-ownership transparency.
- 2020: EU imposes high-risk designation, triggering stricter customer-due-diligence by European lenders.
- 2020-2024: Kingston overhauls the Proceeds of Crime Act, launches a risk-based supervisory manual, and scales up its Financial Investigations Division.
- June 2024: FATF grey-list exit signals global confidence in reforms.
- July 2025: EU delisting completes the process, aligning Brussels with FATF findings.
What Changes on Monday Morning
- Cheaper Cross-Border Flows: Eurozone banks can process Jamaican transactions without the extra layer of scrutiny, cutting settlement friction.
- Lower Cost of Capital: International lenders typically shave 25–50 basis points off financing arranged in non-grey-list jurisdictions, according to Caribbean trade-finance specialists.
- Investor Signalling: Removal serves as external validation for Jamaica’s AML/CFT framework, a prerequisite for sovereign-credit upgrades and FDI inflows.
Staying Off the Radar
Both Holness and Johnson Smith caution that delisting is not a finish line. The EU and FATF will keep Jamaica under “post-observation” monitoring; slippage could trigger a fast-track relapse. The Government has pledged to finalise its digital-assets supervision regime by early 2026 and to double suspicious-transaction-reporting enforcement actions year-over-year.
