The United Kingdom (UK) government has added Ghana to a list of 21 high-risk countries with unsatisfactory money laundering and terrorist financing controls.

The list of 21 countries published by the UK government under “The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (High-risk countries) Regulations 2021” has been approved by both Houses of the UK’s Parliament.

The full list of high-risk third countries includes Albania, Barbados, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Jamaica, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

According to the UK government, the countries in this category pose a threat because of weak tax controls and lack of check and balance on terrorism financing and money laundering.

The list came into force on 26 March 2021 and was released as part of post-Brexit developments.

Until the end of the Brexit transition period, the list of high-risk countries was determined by the European Union (EU) under the fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive but the UK now has its own standalone list.

The UK government said the new list of high-risk third countries has been issued for the purposes of enhanced customer due diligence requirements.