Qatar steps cut ‘dirty money’

QATAR has taken adequate precautions to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, according to Qatar Central Bank Governor HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani.

Foremost among them was the Law No. 28 of 2002 for Combating Money Laundering which was subsequently amended by the Law No. 21 of 2003.

“These laws provided the legislative structure for all measures and precautions taken in combating money laundering and terrorism financing. These are designed to protect our financial institutions and sectors from the risks posed by money laundering and terrorism financing,” he said in a report published by the National Anti-Money Laundering & Terrorism Financing Committee.

The report was distributed at the QCB conference on ‘Tackling money laundering’ at the
Sheraton yesterday. Pursuant to Article 8 of the above law, the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing was created in November 2002 under the QCB deputy governor.

“This committee has been carrying out its tasks and responsibilities as laid down by the law and made significant achievements in combating money laundering and terrorism financing. Its effort was instrumental in Qatar qualifying to join several international and regional organisations in the field such as the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA FATF) and Egmont Group,” Sheikh Abdullah said.

Qatar Central Bank (QCB) has set up the Financial Information Unit (FIU) which is the body presently in charge of supervising the measures taken to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. Since the 90s, QCB has been taking measures to combat these. “To this end, we have issued several instructions to financial institutions in Qatar, laying down all procedures that should be observed as well as guidelines or work manuals that enable institutions to identify criminal acts and tackle them,” the QCB governor said.

Money laundering combating efforts should not be regarded as task for the law enforcement authorities only. They must be treated as issues that threaten the financial stability of the whole economy, Sheikh Abdullah said.

He added the importance of this aspect was felt more strongly during the last few years following the huge increase in money laundering, particularly those through the global financial and banking system.

“During the last few years it has become painfully clear to all countries that the threat of money laundering and terrorism financing is not just limited to the economic system of one particular nation. It has grown to enormous proportions that place the stability of the entire global financial and banking system at greater risks,” Sheikh Abdullah noted.

Similarly, money laundering has “devastating” effect on the macro economy as it weakens the ability of the authorities to implement their policies because of the “low credibility” of the economic data and statistics available in an environment where it is not possible to measure and forecast the size of these activities.

Furthermore, the sharp fluctuation in the movement of funds, deposits and cash flows accompanying money laundering adversely affect the stability of the monetary and foreign exchange markets.

Sheikh Abdullah warned that the failure to observe the international standards set for combating money laundering resulted in huge economic costs and other risks.

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