The Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) for combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing announced that H.E. Abdulrahim Mohamed Al Awadi, President of Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), Assistant Executive Director & Head of Anti-Money Laundering and Suspicious Cases Unit (AMLSCU) of the UAE chaired the 7th Plenary meeting held in Abu Dhabi, Hilton Hotel from 7/4/2008 to 10/4/2008 on the occasion of UAE’s Presidency of MENAFATF during its current session. The Technical Assistance and Typologies Working Group held its 6th meeting while the Mutual Evaluation Working Group held its 8th meeting on Sunday, 6th April, 2008, in which members discussed issues relevant to each Group.
H.E. Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, Chairman of National Anti-Money Laundering Committee of the UAE inaugurated the Plenary meeting on Monday 7th April 2008. H.E. Abdulrahim Mohamed Al Awadi, President of MENAFATF, Assistant Executive Director & Head of Anti-Money Laundering and Suspicious Cases Unit (AMLSCU) of the UAE, gave a speech in which he highlighted the achievement of the Group during the (3) previous yeas and outlined the future vision of the MENAFATF’s activities.
The MENAFATF plenary and its two working groups meetings were attended by delegations from member states, Kingdom of Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Bahrain, Republic of Tunisia, Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of Sudan, Arab Republic of Syria, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar, State of Kuwait, Republic of Lebanon, Arab Republic of Egypt, Kingdom of Morocco, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Republic of Yemen.
Furthermore, the meetings were attended by representatives of countries regional and international organisations and institutions as Observers. This included Palestinian Authority, United States of America, United Kingdom, Republic of France, Kingdom of Spain, International Monetary Fund (IMF), The World Bank (WB), The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime & Egmont Group.
The UAE hosting of MENAFATF meeting symbolises its strategy to support and enhance regional and international cooperation in encountering money laundering and fighting terrorism financing as well as its support to the Group in attaining the goals for which it was established.
The first day of the meeting witnessed (3) sessions. During the first two sessions, the third annual report for 2007 was discussed and adopted to, in addition to other administrative and financial issues relating to the MENAFATF and the reports prepared by the specialised committees.
The third session discussed the report of the mutual assessment team, the schedule of the mutual assessment process and the necessary follow-up with the concerned countries, the report of the technical assistance and typologies team, the technical assistance programmes to member states as well as the conferences, seminars and workshops to be organized by MENAFATF- as part of its plan to train assessors
The plenary discussed also proposals put forward by UAE and other member states which aims at enhancing the MENAFATF’s role and achieving its goals through strengthening ties between the MENAFATF and regional and international organizations, such as FATF, General Secretariat of Arab Council of Ministers of Interior and Justice and other similar organizations.
The second day comprised of four sessions, the first two of which were designated for the discussion of draft mutual evaluation report on UAE, the two other sessions for the discussion of the draft mutual evaluation report on Qatar. The two reports were discussed and adopted by the Plenary.
Three sessions were held on third day, the first two of which were assigned for the discussion of draft mutual evaluation report on Yemen. The said report was adopted by the Plenary. During the 3rd session, the Plenary discussed means to enhance the relationship between MENAFATF with other regional and international organizations. Particularly the FATF. The session also reviewed AML/CFT regulations of member states, as well as other items on the agenda. The Plenary approved the extension of the service to the Executive Secretary of the Group Mr. Adel AlQulish.
MENAFATF reiterates the support to member states in achieving its goals, mainly to achieve compliance with international AML/CFT standards and procedures issued by FATF in this regard, executing UN conventions and agreements as well as Security Council Resolutions in this regard.
Finally, participants expressed their thanks and gratitude to the UAE for its hospitality and to the MENAFATF’s Presidency for the successful organisation of this important meeting.