EU Plans Crackdown on Moroccan Expat Money Transfers

MRE transfers exceeded 108 billion dirhams at the end of November and are expected to reach more than 110 billion dirhams by the end of 2024. The continued increase in these transfers to Morocco is worrying the member countries of the European Union, reports Assabah, which indicates that the authorities of these countries of residence of the MREs are "tightening the noose on the transfer channels in order to reduce the volume of fund transfers from the countries of the European Union to abroad".

The daily explains that the banking authorities of the EU member countries have in recent years implemented a policy aimed at "tightening the conditions for the activities of the subsidiaries and representative offices of Moroccan banking groups in the countries in which they operate". Moroccan banks are present in seven European countries and represented in several countries around the world, maintaining proximity with Moroccans in the diaspora to facilitate their transfers to Morocco.

The regularity and volume of MRE fund transfers to Morocco seems to be causing harm to European banks. Faced with this situation, the EU is considering issuing a circular to prohibit foreign banks from providing services to their clients residing in EU countries. A measure that will inevitably affect the Moroccan banks present on the continent, through which the MREs make fund transfers to Morocco.

According to the daily, this decision "comes after recording a significant increase in remittances from foreign residents to their countries of origin". For their part, the Moroccan banking authorities, notably Bank Al-Maghrib, with the support of the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are negotiating with the central banks of the European Union countries "in order to avoid any negative impact of the entry into force of the EU circular on the transfers of Moroccans residing abroad".