Abu Dhabi to Establish Executive Office to Combat Illicit Financial Flow

A specialised court in Abu Dhabi will be developed to oversee the measures to fight financial crimes. UAE’s cabinet is all set to counter financial crimes including terrorism funding and money laundering. The cabinet is chaired by the His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, who has approved to set up an Executive Office for Anti-money laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT).

The Executive Officer will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the region’s National Action Plan of anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing. The program is designed with strategies to strengthen the anti-financial crime framework of the country.

The office will report to the Higher Committee that is responsible for UAE’s AML/CFT measures. The higher committee is chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Hamid Al Zaabi the Director-General of the Executive Office of the UAE, said “In light of the vision of the UAE’s leadership, and the guidance of the Chair of the Higher Committee overseeing the UAE’s National AML/CFT Strategy, the UAE takes its role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously. The scale and complexity of financial crime have increased. So too has the UAE’s awareness and understanding of it. That is why the UAE is committed to taking action.”

He also talks about the development of the special court on the federal level that will be responsible to handle the cases regarding money laundering and financing terrorism cases. He also highlighted that the Central Bank of UAE has recently announced that it has sanctioned eleven banks in the region lacking the strong framework to comply with the AML and CFT regulations.