The Chairman of the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), H E Sheikh Mohammed Al Jarrah Al Sabah, praised yesterday the success of Qatar in the field of combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, calling for the region to benefit from the country’s experience.
Speaking at the Compliance and Combating Financial Crime Conference in Doha on the challenges of facing financial crimes, Sheikh Al Sabah said that choosing Doha as the host of the conference was mainly to try to understand and benefit from the country’s experience in the field, adding that the State of Qatar has been vigilant in the face of financial crimes.
He added that Qatar has enough policies and systems in place that enable the country face challenges in that field. Sheikh Al Sabah also praised the establishment of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Committee for the role it played in developing a comprehensive framework to fight financial crimes and protect the Qatari financial system. He added that the efforts and the strategies of Qatar were a source of pride for Arab banks.
He discussed the role of the union in the field of fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism, noting that the organization holds many conferences in cooperation with regional and international institutions in the field. He said that the main goal of these events was to raise awareness about these financial crimes and how they affect society, reported QNA.
He also cited a number of studies which show that financial crimes still remains a source of worry for the international community, despite the regional and international legislations that were introduced. Referring to a study by HSBC that said the global economy lost $2.1 trillion to financial crimes in 2018, while the estimate of the World Economic Forum was slightly higher at $2.4 trillion. He also said that many global financial institutions were involved in financial crimes, with sanctions on these institutions reaching $17bn since 2009.
