US Treasury Official Urges Iraq’s Central Bank to Act Against Money Laundering

The US Treasury officials stated Iraq’s central bank should design new measures to combat the misuse of the dollars in Iraqi commercial institutes and secure the integrity of the country’s financial sector. 

In July, the US Treasury Department banned 14 Iraqi banks for not adequately complying with the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements. According to the officials, they were using dollars for illicit activities, and the US barred them from dollar transactions. Despite a crackdown on these banks, the US Treasury Department senior officials stated that there were other Iraqi banks operating at risk “that must be remediated.”

According to the governor of the Central Bank, Iraq is dedicated to enforcing stricter financial regulations and preventing the smuggling of dollars. Iraqi prime minister’s foreign affairs adviser, Farhad Alaadin, stated, “The Iraqi government has taken hard measures to make sure that Iraqi interests are protected while improving the banking sector and the transfer market. The Iraqi government is serious about continuing on the path of reform and fighting corruption.” However, a US Treasury official stated, “I chose to focus on the banks that still have access where I see continued risk. It would be great if the central bank took the opportunity to address it directly, which would perhaps obviate the need (for the US) to take any further actions.”

The Central Bank of Iraq claimed around 80% of transactions were denied when Iraq started implementing rigid regulations via new online platforms, including detecting information about end-beneficiaries. 

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