For anyone curious, Saudi Arabia has been on the list but has effectively managed to dodge most of the requirements through complex corporate & trust structures

For anyone curious, Saudi Arabia has been on the list but has effectively managed to dodge most of the requirements through complex corporate & trust structures. It's not that the U.K. suddenly opposes KSA being on the list but that recent regulatory changes will now require financial institutions to obtain "additional information regarding the transaction as well as the natural and legal persons involved" for entities owned or controlled by persons from those high-risk countries. Before the EU's 5th AML Directive the transactions could be attributed to shell corps and trusts. So long as KSA is on the high-risk jurisdiction list the transactions will now need to be attributed to both the entity (corporation/trust/etc.) and the natural person directing the transaction on behalf of the entity (trustee/corporate director/etc.) and the ultimate beneficial owner (beneficiary of a trust/majority shareholder of a corp/etc.). This would understandably make it much easier to track the flow of Saudi funds and much more difficult for Saudi Arabia to avoid.