The European Union has added 12 countries to its money-laundering blacklist, putting their financial transactions under greater scrutiny.

They include Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.

Others are Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Cambodia, Mongolia and Myanmar.

Once approved by the European parliament the list will come into force in October.

The commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU needed to put an end to dirty money infiltrating its financial system.

Of the 22 blacklisted countries, only North Korea has refused to commit to trying to tackle the problem.