The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union annulled on Wednesday the inclusion of Russian businessman Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman on the lists of persons subject to the EU restrictive measures introduced following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The European Court of Justice has reversed a decade of progress against financial secrecy, to the cheers of sanctioned oligarchs and tax dodgers all around the world.

The European Court of Justice announced on Thursday that Romania and Ireland will have to pay three million euro (US$3.43 million) and two million euro ($2.29 million) respectively for having failed to follow an EU directive intended to prevent illicit financial flows that lead to money laundering and terrorist financing.