UAE Wins Praise For Anti-Money Laundering Efforts

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

06 February 2002

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has praised the efforts made by the United Arab Emirates to combat money laundering in the jurisdiction, and has revealed that it will not be included in the revised Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) report.

The UAE Central Bank announced on Monday that the UAE's National Committee for Anti-Money Laundering was told when it attended the FATF plenary meeting in Hong Kong last week that the region is in a very good position to cooperate in the international fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

Although the jurisdiction was not included on the original FATF blacklist, following the terrorist attacks of September 11 the authorities took swift action , implementing new laws which mean that the UAE now fulfils all of the 25 criteria necessary in order to be considered 'co-operative' by the FATF.

The new laws have been welcomed by the region's financial services sector as well. The jurisdiction prides itself on high standards of compliance and security, but following last year's events, money movement operations drew criticism throughout the world.

'After the September 11 events in the US, the global money movement operations drew public attention worldwide,' the President of Western Union, William D. Thomas explained to Gulf News on Monday. 'However, we have overcome the pressure of public outcry, and are in the process of tightening up the compliance terms, so that money can be transferred in a much safer and efficient way. In the long run, it will have a positive impact.'

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