EU removes Panama and Vietnam from its tax haven blacklist, citing transparency progress
The decision was taken by EU finance ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg, ten years after the Panama Papers leak. Panama had been listed since 2020 and Vietnam since February 2026.
The decision
On Friday 9 October, the European Union announced that Panama and Vietnam had been removed from its list of tax havens, citing progress both countries made on financial transparency. The decision was taken by the EU finance ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg. In its statement, the Council of the EU said the update reflects a positive trend in compliance with international standards of good tax governance.
This update reflects a positive trend in compliance with international standards of good tax governance.
After the update, the EU list contains eight jurisdictions: American Samoa, Anguilla, Guam, Palau, Russia, Turks and Caicos, the US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu. Both Panama and Vietnam now move onto the EU grey list, pending conclusions from OECD reviews. According to Deutsche Welle, Panama's removal reflects changes to its harmful regime for exempting foreign income, along with a new OECD review of its compliance with international rules on tax information exchange. Vietnam's exit is tied to an OECD review of its own tax information exchange rules.
Why Panama and Vietnam were removed
Panama had been on the EU blacklist since February 2020, while Vietnam had been listed since February 2026. Panama has carried out legal reforms, including criminalising tax evasion, which allowed it to leave the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2023. This year, a new reform requires multinationals based in Panama to prove an effective operational presence, meaning physical offices and employees on site, or else pay a 15% tax. Panama's finance minister, Felipe Chapman, told Bloomberg in June that removal from the list was a priority for the country.
For us, it is essential to do everything possible for this problem to be settled in October.
The timeline below traces the list from its creation to this week's update.
- Panama Papers leak revealed
- EU tax haven blacklist created after Panama Papers and LuxLeaks
- Panama placed on EU blacklist
- Vietnam placed on EU blacklist
- Panama and Vietnam removed from the blacklist
What the list does
The EU blacklist was created in December 2017 after the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks scandals. It is updated twice a year, and sanctions against listed countries can include the freezing of EU funds. Deutsche Welle reports that listing carries no economic penalties beyond a ban on EU funds transiting through entities based in these jurisdictions, plus administrative measures such as more frequent audits. Member states may impose other penalties at national level. The EU monitors almost a hundred jurisdictions for compliance with its cooperation standards.
Ten years after the Panama Papers
The Panama Papers leak, revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), exposed more than 11.5 million confidential documents from the law firm Mossack Fonseca, detailing more than 214,000 offshore companies. About 150 billionaires, politicians, celebrities and heads of state or government were implicated in hiding property, companies, capital and profits from tax authorities. At least 150 investigations were opened in 79 countries. The trial in Panama ended with most of the accused acquitted. BFMTV reports that Panama's tax regime remains very attractive for multinationals. The French tax administration said in the spring that it had recovered 271 million euros in 230 procedures linked to the affair.
