The 11th MENAFATF plenary meeting was held in the Le Royal Hotel, Yasmine Hamamet Town, the Tunisian Republic during the period 3 -5 May 2010. The meeting was presided by the Tunisian Republic, represented by his Excellency Mr. Samir Brahimi, MENAFATF President, and Secretary General of the Tunisian Financial Analysis Commission.
Mr. Taoufik BACCAR, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia inaugurated the plenary. Mr. BACCAR stressed on the importance of the MENAFATF in AML/CFT and highlighted the efforts made by the Tunisian Republic in supporting the MENAFATF activities. Mr. BACCAR listed the achievements of Tunisia since the development in the field of transparency and governance according to an approach characterized by thorough and comprehensive dimensions.
A large number of AML/CFT experts participated in the Plenary meeting, representing MENAFATF member countries (Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, and Yemen), in addition to observer countries and organizations (Palestine, France, USA, Spain, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Gulf Cooperation Council, FATF and Egmont Group).
The 11th Plenary included a number of important events and discussed a series of subjects related to the MENAFATF work and its activities, as follows:
1) Mutual Evaluation Reports:
The 11th Plenary adopted the mutual evaluation report for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made jointly with the FATF. The evaluation was conducted by a team of experts following the on-site visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in March 2009. The report discussed all aspects of the AML/CFT regimes and the extent of compliance of the Kingdom to the international standards in this regard and the extent of adequacy of those systems. The mutual evaluation report will be discussed as well during the next FATF plenary meeting, which will be held in June 2010. The report will be issued and published on the MENAFATF website soon.
2) Follow-up reports:
Within the framework of the follow up process for the Mutual evaluation processes, the 11th Plenary meeting has adopted 6 follow-up reports for the State of Qatar, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Yemen, the Arab Republic of Syria, the Kingdom of Morocco; which showed the progress made by those countries in developing their AML/CFT systems according to the plan set up for that purpose in their MERs, which were discussed and adopted between 2006 to 2008.
3) Approving the request of Arab Monetary Fund to join MENAFATF as an observer
4) Working Groups:
The Plenary adopted the report of the Chair of the Mutual Evaluation Working Group, which included decisions and recommendations the MEWG has reached in its meetings held in Syria on 11-13 April 2010 and in Tunisia on Sunday 2nd of May 2010 respectively in relation to:
Timeline of ME process
· Timeline of ME follow-up process
· Draft MEWG mandate
· Revised ME procedures
· Objectives of the 2nd round of ME
Moreover, the Plenary adopted the report of the Chair of the Technical Assistance and Typologies Working Group, which included decisions and recommendations the TATWG has reached in its meeting held on May 2, 2010 on the margin of the 11th MENAFATF Plenary in relation to:
· Continuing to coordinate with the technical assistance donors to provide the technical assistance that some MENAFATF member countries need to develop their AML/CFT systems.
· Holding the seminar for prosecution authorities and judiciaries, 28 & 29 November 2010.
· Holding a Regional Conference Entitled “Cross-Border Cash Movement: Challenges, Detection, and Combating” during the period 14-16 December 2010 in the United Arab Emirates.
· Holding the 4th workshop on training assessors in the UAE during the period 19- 24 September 2010.
5) Fifth Annual Report 2009, Closing Account 2009 and External Auditor Report
The Plenary adopted the Fifth Annual Report 2009, Closing Account 2009 and External Auditor Report which include the activities and accomplishments made by the MENAFATF in 2009, the external auditor report and closing accounts for the MENAFATF for the same year.
6) MENAFATF 2011 Budget
The Plenary adopted the MENAFATF 2011 budget funded by the contributions of the member countries according to the principle of equality, providing the financial resources required for the MENAFATF Secretariat to perform the tasks it is entrusted with as per its work plan adopted for 2011.
7) The Ministerial Meeting (High Level).
The Plenary adopted holding the ministerial meeting (high level); the invitation will be sent to the Ministers concerned with AML/CFT in the MENAFATF member countries, Governors of the Central Banks and President of National Committees. The meeting will be held in the UAE.
8) FIUs forum
The FIUs forum was held on Saturday May 1, 2010, hereafter a brief summary on the most important issues of the 1st day of the forum:
· Structure, mandate and periodicity of the forum
· Encourage and follow-up on the mechanisms of exchange of information and regional cooperation
· Build and promote the capacities of the FIUs.
· Put in place mechanisms of cooperation with other Working Groups within the MENAFATF.
The 2nd meeting of the forum will be held on the margin of the 12th Plenary meeting
9) Other Issues:
Identify the latest developments related to AML/CFT in some MENAFATF member countries.