MIDDLE EAST

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MIDDLE EAST NORTH AFRICAFINANCIAL ACTION TASK
FORCE
Presentation for The Second Annual
Conference Combating Financial Crime Middle
East FTBusiness/TheBanker ByAdel
AlQulishExecutive Secretary
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International Requirements

• UN Conventions,
• 1988 UN Convention against the Illicit Traffic in
  Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
  (Vienna Convention).
• 1999 UN Convention for the Suppression of the
  Financing of Terrorism (Terrorist Financing
  Convention).
• 2000 UN Convention against Transnational
  Organized Crime (Palermo Convention).
• 2003 UN Convention against Corruption (Merida
  Convention).
• United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
• FATF Forty Recommendations on ML Nine SR on TF.

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Regional Efforts in AML/CFT

• Building an effective AML/CFT framework.
• Joining Egmont Group.
• Establishment of MENAFATF.
• Out-reaching the Private Sector.

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• Building an effective AML/CFT framework
• Legal System.
• Criminalization, Seizure, Confiscation,
  Forfeiture.
• Laws consistent with FATF Rec.
• National and International Cooperation among
  competent authorities.

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• Building an effective AML/CFT framework
• Preventive Measures.
• Implementing customer identification and CDD
  measures.
• Implementing record keeping, STRs requirements,
  Internal control, supervision.
• Legal entities and arrangements.

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• Building an effective AML/CFT framework
• FIUs
• Establishing a financial intelligence unit to
  receive, analyse and disseminate suspicious
  transaction reports.

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• Building an effective AML/CFT framework
• International Cooperation.
• Efficient domestic capacity.
• Ratifying Implementing Inter. conventions.
• Cooperate internationally in investigating and
  prosecuting.
• Cooperation between FIUs / Supervisory
  Authorities.

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• Joining Egmont Group
• Current Membership 106 countries (6 from the
  MENA Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, UAE
  Syria).
• Main objectives
• Expand and systemise intelligence exchange.
• Foster communication among FIUs.
• Enhance operational co-operation between FIUs.
• Share experience and ideas.
• Promote establishment of FIUs worldwide.

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• Establishment of MENAFATF
• Why?
• It is important in the promotion and
  implementation of AML / CFT standards within the
  MENA region
• It has AML and CFT efforts as its sole
  objectives,
• It encourages implementation and enforcement of
  FATF's 409 Recs.
• It also administers a mutual evaluation of its
  members.
• It provides information to its members about
  trends, techniques and other developments for
  money laundering and terrorist financing.

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• Establishment of MENAFATF
• Creation
• Four informal discussions led to the creation of
  the MENAFATF, 2003-2004.
• MENAFATF was launched on Nov 30, 2004 in Bahrain.
• MENAFATF Founding Members
• (Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi
  Arabia, Syria, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon,
  Egypt, Morocco, Yemen)
• New Members
• (Iraq, Mauritania Sudan)
• MENAFATF Observers
• (Palestine, France, UK, USA, Spain, IMF, WB,
  GCC, UNODC, Egmont Group, APG).

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• Establishment of MENAFATF
• MENAFATF Objectives
• To adopt and implement FATF Recs 409,
• To implement UN treaties and agreements,
• To encourage members to cooperate together to
  rise compliance with FATF and international
  standards,
• To encourage members to identify ML/TF issues
  specific to the region
• To encourage members to build effective
  arrangement through out the region to combat
  ML/TF in accordance with their cultural values,
  constitutional framework and legal systems.

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• Establishment of MENAFATF
• MENAFATF Role.
• To help member countries by issuing best
  practices recommended for application in specific
  issues gathering information on ML trends and
  techniques.
• To assess the commitment of member countries to
  the application of the international standards
  and obligations within their national systems.

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• MENAFATF Mechanisms.
• Plenary Secretariat.
• Working Groups Ad Hoc committees.
• Mutual Evaluation WG.
• Technical Assistance and Typologies WG.
• Hawala.
• Cash courier.
• Charities.
• PEPs DNFBPs.

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• Enhancement of AML/CFT implementation.
• Technical Assistance.
• Discuss members needs provide the appropriate
  TA
• Best Practices Papers.
• Hawala, Cash couriers , Charities papers
  adopted as a reference and guidelines that can be
  applied by MENAFATF members

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• Typologies Exercise.
• - Better understanding of trends and techniques
  identification of cross-border payment methods
  and their vulnerabilities to ML/TF
• AML/CFT Trends and Indicators
• Mutual Evaluation.
• Assess MENAFATF members compliance with the
  FATF global standards, general rules governing
  the ME process, program covers 2-3 countries
  yearly, and the first round schedule started on
  April 2006
• Bahrain, Syria, Mauritania, Tunisia, Morocco.

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• Training.
• MENAFATF has organized, partnered, and
  participated in some of the regional events and
  seminars
• - Out- reaching the private sector
• Raising awareness of all financial and non
  financial sectors of money laundering and
  terrorist financing risks
• Private Sector Dialogue.
• Consultation meetings.
• Agreement (with UAB).

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• On going work
• Assessments
• Report to be discussed UAE, Qatar Yemen.
• Next assessment Lebanon, Egypt Jordan.
• Typologies
• ML/TF Trends and Indicators.
• Technical Assistance.
• DNFBPs and PEPs.

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• THANK YOU
• For more information
• www.menafatf.org
• info_at_menafatf.org