Abu Dhabi (WAM)
“Senior officials” in the UAE affirmed the country’s strong commitment and continued its efforts in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as the UAE continues to implement a set of important measures to combat financial crime and enhance the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing system, in line with the national strategy to combat this Crime, and the UAE National Action Plan.
They pointed out that the competent state authorities have so far made unprecedented progress in adopting international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing and will continue to increase their efforts, through close and continuous coordination between the authorities, and international cooperation as well as with the private sector in this regard.
They affirmed the UAE’s commitment at the highest level to combating financial crime in accordance with the global agenda to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, which remains a strategic priority for the UAE.
His Excellency Mohammed bin Hadi Al Husseini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, said that the UAE remains firmly committed to continuing to strengthen efforts to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system.
He added: “We will closely review the detailed recommendations received from our international partners and the Financial Action Task Force, and ensure that they are addressed and implemented as quickly as possible during the coming period, as well as in the long term. To ensure that our national strategy and national action plan for combating money laundering and terrorist financing continues to focus on improving effectiveness in key areas, AML/CFT reforms will remain one of the main priorities in our 2022 federal budget and future budgets.”
Technological progress
His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said, “The interconnectedness of international organized crime networks, which has often developed thanks to technological progress, is worrying countries around the world… and we in the UAE are facing this through “smart” and advanced analytics. technology, investigations, and public-private partnerships.. Our main goal is to provide the public and private sectors in the UAE with the tools to strengthen our collective defences.”
His Excellency added: “This includes building the institutional capacities stipulated in the risk assessment, the national action plan, and the national strategy to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. We have also worked closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to facilitate cooperation and coordination with the international community on financial crime concerns, which is the cornerstone of establishing an advanced financial crime framework for the UAE and beyond.”
resource harnessing
His Excellency Abdullah bin Sultan Al Nuaimi, Minister of Justice, said: “The Ministry of Justice has committed itself to harnessing all available resources, including federal and local courts, to combat money laundering. We are committed to preventing and punishing financial crimes as a top priority, as well as strengthening all efforts to prevent financial crimes and fraud. We have made significant reforms in a short period of time to bring criminals to justice and continue to work efficiently and effectively to ensure that FATF outcomes are addressed.”
His Excellency added: “To ensure the existence of appropriate legislation to address money laundering patterns, the new amended Federal Law No. 26 of 2021 was issued on September 13, 2021, as was preceded by Federal Law No. 20 of 2018 on combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of illegal organizations. The UAE will continue to benefit from the existing cooperation with our international partners and stakeholders in the private sector with the aim of always achieving justice and protecting our future economic growth in line with the strategic roadmap for the “next fifty” for the UAE recently developed by our leadership.
Facing challenges
His Excellency Khalid Mohammed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE and Chairman of the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Illicit Organizations said that the regulations and policies of the Central Bank of the UAE regarding financial institutions licensed in the UAE aim to meet the global challenges of money laundering and terrorist financing activities as a strategic priority.
His Excellency pointed out that “great progress has been made in the supervisory initiatives and control procedures on the financial sector to develop an effective and integrated system to combat financial crimes of all kinds, and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has praised these efforts… and given that the UAE is an important regional and international financial center, we are continuing By committing to putting in place effective controls to combat money laundering and terrorist financing to protect our financial system.”