PQ "I don't think we have a money-laundering problem here." – Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero

Under pressure from Washington, nations under the European Union have refused to endorse the EU's updated tax haven blacklist, which includes Guam and three other U.S. territories.

Guam was on the blacklist first issued in December 2017.

The island also is named in the updated list released by the EU on Feb. 13.

The expanded blacklist raised the number of affected jurisdictions from 17 to 23 by adding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with four other jurisdictions.

According to the EU, Guam and the other jurisdictions have "strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing frameworks."

However, Reuters reports that 27 out of 28 European member states rejected adoption of the updated list, after heavy pressure from the United States and Saudi Arabia, which also was named on the blacklist.

In rejecting the updated list, however, it's not clear whether the original blacklist remains in effect. It was not repudiated by the European member nations.

The EU blacklist was one of the issues Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero raised during a meeting with U.S. Treasury officials in Washington, D.C., last week. She said Treasury officials have "protested" to the EU and "they cannot understand why we are blacklisted."

"I don't think we have a money-laundering problem here," said the governor.

Being placed on the list means European banks will have to carry out increased due-diligence checks on any transactions involving customers or other financial institutions in the listed countries and territories.

In compiling the list, the EU said it was targeting jurisdictions it alleges are unfairly offering tax-avoidance schemes and "failing to meet agreed tax good governance standards."

The EU cited Guam because it "has not signed and ratified the OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance." Joe Bradley, chief economist and senior vice president at the Bank of Guam, has pointed out that because Guam is a U.S. territory, it does not have the authority to sign international agreements.

Guam is bound by U.S. banking laws and covered by all international banking agreements signed by the U.S. Treasury Department, he said previously.

The EU also claimed that Guam "refused to cooperate and change their way after almost one year of consultations."

However, then-Department of Revenue and Taxation Director John Camacho and the Calvo administration said at the time that no one from the EU ever consulted them about the blacklist.