Jun.19, 2010, 01:30 AM

The rules and regulations for anti-money laundering and to combat financing of terrorism that were followed by the country’s three financial sector regulatory bodies have now been aligned with Qatar’s new law on this aspect, the National Anti Money-Laundering and Combating Terrorism Committee (NAMLC) has said.

In a statement here yesterday the NAMLC praised the ‘collective efforts’ of those involved in developing a regulatory infrastructure in line with the NAMLC’s AML/CFT national vision and strategy and the highest demands of AML/CFT international best practice.

An 18-month intensive review of Qatar’s legislative framework on anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) was completed recently.

The culmination of this work was the enactment of Qatar’s new Law No. (4) of 2010 on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (Law) which commenced on April 30.

However, both in advance of the law and subsequent to its enactment, a tripartite committee of financial sector regulatory bodies, formed by the Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Financial Markets Authority and the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority were involved in a highly collaborative exercise to coordinate and harmonise their respective AML/CFT rules and regulations.

“Each body’s AML/CFT rules and regulations have now been brought into force and have been designed to ensure alignment both with the new law and their compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations and standards,” NAMLC said.

NAMLC chairman and QCB deputy governor HE Sheikh Fahad Faisal al-Thani said,

“Qatar has more ability now to successfully fight financial crimes. While such an achievement is a reflection of the ability of our highly professional financial organisations to work together, we are also indebted to the guidance and vision of people including HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani, QCB Governor.”