The UAE has demonstrated “real commitment” to protect its international commercial and financial centre from illicit financial transactions and commerce.
“In the long run, there is a competitive advantage for the centres that are trusted to have clean financial flows,” Stuart Levey, Undersecretary, Terrorism and Financial Intelligence of the US Department of Treasury, told reporters on Wednesday before leaving for London after a two-day visit to the UAE as part of a four-nation tour of Israel, the UAE, the UK and France.
Levey has visited the Gulf countries several times in the past few years as he deals with Iran’s use of international financial system to pursue its nuclear programme.
The main purpose of his tour now was to brief key allies, including the UAE, on some of the actions the US has taken to implement the multilateral obligations under the UN Security Council resolutions.
“There is a challenge in the UAE specially because of deep financial and commercial ties between the UAE and Iran,” he said.
“I had an excellent set of meetings here. There is a very strong alliance on all issues between the US and the UAE and the issue of Iran as well”, he said.
“The UAE in general has built and continue to improve upon an international commercial and financial centre. We shared ideas about how important it is to build that sort of a centre to protect the system from illicit financial transactions and commerce because in the long run there is a competitive advantage for financial centres that take those issues seriously and become known as centres to be trusted to have clean financial flows,” he explained.
He said Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear programme in defiance of the UN Security Council resolutions is viewed as a threat not just to the US but all across the world, including in this region.
“Iran is engaging in deceptive financial conduct to pursue its programme and trying to do so in this region that is viewed as very much a threat to the financial centres they are trying to build here,” he said.
Levey said the UAE took very seriously its obligations under the UN Security Council resolutions. It also took seriously its commitments as a country that had articulated its support for Financial Action Task Force (FATF) principles as well as the future of its financial system and its reputation
He said that continual improvement in controls was the only way to tackle the worldwide problem of money laundering.
He said Iran’s use of relationships in international financial system to move money to pursue its nuclear and missile programme and its support to terrorist groups was a principal threat.
qudoos@khaleejtimes.com
Source: Khaleej Times
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