May.09, 2010

Government officials and finance professionals from across the Arab world met in Tunisia last week to discuss regional efforts against financial crimes. Participants in the 11th plenary session of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) examined how to activate and update international standards on money laundering and combating terrorist finance.

The three-day event, which ran from May 3rd-6th, was the first to be held in the Maghreb.

The goals of the task force – formed in November 2004 in Bahrain – include the adoption of the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on combating money laundering, as well as similar United Nations agreements and resolutions. Also included are a framework for co-operation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and collaboration with international organisations to enhance compliance with standards all over the world.

However, Tunisian Central Bank governor Taoufik Baccar said that combating cross-border crime can't possibly be restricted to traditional law enforcement mechanisms. Rather, it requires international efforts to undermine the roots of crime, including economic and social policies that strengthen development.

Baccar said greater transparency in financial transactions was essential to the group's efforts, calling for compliance with international standards and for raising awareness so as to "preserve the stability, well-being and reputation of the Arab financial arena".

Adel Al Qulish, executive secretary of MENAFATF, urged member states to organise training courses in their financial institutions and to provide the technical assistance that the countries need to develop their enforcement structures.

"There is a strategy being carried out at the highest levels," said Mohammed Bsiri, vice-governor of the Bank of Lebanon. "It's being implemented in several forms, the most important of which is this meeting hosted by Tunisia, as well as the World Bank and observers."

At the meeting, members discussed the timeline of the joint evaluation process, to assess progress by country.

MENAFATF conducts such an evaluation every three years to follow up on the efforts exerted by countries in combating money laundering.

The agenda also included a follow-up of the corrective measures taken by some countries, which have been previously evaluated, to improve their systems of combat, as well as a follow-up of the latest developments in this field, whether at the regional or international levels.

In a meeting in Tunis in March, the Council of Arab Interior Ministers solidified further co-operation, ratifying agreements on combating terrorism, corruption and money laundering. The closing statement included specific measures to address these concerns, as well as agreements on cross-border organised crime and the transfer of arrested individuals.