The United Arab Emirates has significantly increased its ability to clamp down on flows of dirty money, a senior official said, as the Middle East’s main financial hub battles to keep itself off a global money-laundering watchlist.
In April 2020, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force warned the UAE, long seen as a global magnet for illicit funds, that it needed to work more closely with international counterparts and to tighten compliance in sectors vulnerable to abuse, especially gold trading and luxury real estate.
“We took on board the recommendations and started to change,” Ahmed Al Sayegh, a minister of state in the foreign ministry, told the Financial Times. “We think we have made significant progress — the bar has been set very high.”
Western officials say the UAE has made steps forward but is unlikely to avoid being placed on the FATF’s so-called “grey list”, which includes 23 countries such as Panama, Syria, Yemen and Zimbabwe. The multilateral body is due to make a final decision in February. Only Iran and North Korea are on the black list. “Regardless of the outcome, we now have an action plan,” Al Sayegh said.
In April 2020, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force warned the UAE, long seen as a global magnet for illicit funds, that it needed to work more closely with international counterparts and to tighten compliance in sectors vulnerable to abuse, especially gold trading and luxury real estate.
“We took on board the recommendations and started to change,” Ahmed Al Sayegh, a minister of state in the foreign ministry, told the Financial Times. “We think we have made significant progress — the bar has been set very high.”
Western officials say the UAE has made steps forward but is unlikely to avoid being placed on the FATF’s so-called “grey list”, which includes 23 countries such as Panama, Syria, Yemen and Zimbabwe. The multilateral body is due to make a final decision in February. Only Iran and North Korea are on the black list. “Regardless of the outcome, we now have an action plan,” Al Sayegh said.
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