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Bahrain Tackles Money Laundering

Banker Middle East

01 March 2001

This story is reproduced by kind permission of Banker Middle East at: http://www.bankerme.com

His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain, has issued a decree imposing up to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of up to one million dinars on money launderers.

Punishment of not less than five years' imprisonment and a fine of not less than 100,000 dinars will apparently be enforced in the following cases:

Crimes committed through an organised gang;
Committing money laundering-related crimes using one's influence or power;
Committing this crime and describing the money generated from such a crime as being generated from a legal source.

The decree also instructs that the Finance and National Economy Minister, Abdulla Saif, to assign a committee to lay down policies on combating money laundering, in co-ordination with relevant agencies.
The minister, recently addressing a gathering of the Emirates bankers, said the "Financial Action Task Force...has been encouraging countries to co-operate more intensively. In 2000, Bahrain was the first to undergo a GCC-FATF Mutual Evaluation on measures already introduced. While money laundering is not an existing problem here, Bahrain had already introduced preventive measures".

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