Saudi Regulator Establishes Anti-Money Laundering Units

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

16 January 2002

The Governor of the Saudi Arabian Central Bank revealed on Tueday that special units are to be established in all the country's banks to ensure full compliance with anti-money laundering laws.

'We have asked the banks to establish such units, and many of them have done so,' explained Hamad al-Sayari, the head of the Saudi Arabia Monetary agency (SAMA), adding: 'We are satisfied at the banks' measures and performance. '

According to Mr Sayari, the regulatory authorities have 'dealt seriously' with the accounts of those named on US lists as being suspected of funding terrorist activities. However, a number of the Saudi businessmen and organisations named have categorically denied the charges, and are taking legal action in the courts to clear their names.

The SAMA chief believes that the reason that relatively few of the organisations on the US list of suspects were found to have assets in the country is the result of previously existing safeguards: 'A majority of the account holders are non-residents of Saudi Arabia, and banking laws and regulations here ban opening accounts without the prior approval of SAMA, so we rarely discovered any of those accounts,' he said earlier this week.

Mr Sayari also revealed that there had been significant repatriation of funds to Saudi Arabia following the September 11th attacks, as nervous investors have become wary of the increased risks on foreign investments. Capital flight has also fallen dramtically, he said, although no figures were given.

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