The European Union has officially removed Nigeria from its list of high-risk jurisdictions for money laundering and terrorism financing, a decision expected to ease cross-border transactions and improve investor confidence.
The update was published on the European Commission’s website and follows Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force greylist in 2025, following a series of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing reforms.
Under the new decision, enhanced due diligence requirements applied to transactions involving Nigeria will be lifted from January 29, 2026, subject to procedural approval by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
Explaining the move, the European Commission said the update reflects decisions taken by the FATF at its June and October 2025 plenaries, where several countries were removed from the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.
“The EU has added new third-country jurisdictions to the list (Bolivia and the British Virgin Islands) and delisted a number of others (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania),” the Commission stated.
