RIYADH — The Kingdom has identified 150 bank accounts held by individuals and business entities involved in alleged money laundering activities and appropriate action will be taken against them. The authorities are also monitoring a large number of accounts suspected of funding terrorism or of having links with outlawed organizations.
This was disclosed by Hamad Al-Sayyari, governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), while opening a major conference on money laundering here yesterday.
This three-day conference, organized jointly by the SAMA and Saudi Interpol, has attracted 180 foreign delegates and experts from the law enforcement agencies of various governments. The conference will discuss a wide range of issues related to money laundering, terrorism and commercial fraud.
The event will also provide a forum to discuss ways to curb money laundering, which has been made easier because of the liberalization of markets, removal of trade barriers and speed of financial transactions on the global level. This has also been the concern of the whole Middle East banking industry including commercial banks in Saudi Arabia. More than $1.4 trillion is currently circulating in the global banking system as illicit funds.
Asked about the action taken by the government against those operating such accounts to fund terrorism or to help individuals or groups linked to terrorism, Sayyari said “the Ministry of Interior has been following the cases of suspected accounts including those which have been frozen or under investigation. The Kingdom has taken strict measures to identify such money laundering cases especially after Sept. 11 terror attacks on the US”.
He said that SAMA had been putting pressure on all local banks to do clean business.
The banks, on their part, have introduced an internal audit department, which has geared itself to monitor suspicious activities of the clients within the framework of the guidelines provided by SAMA and international regulatory bodies.
The banks have been reporting suspicious activities of the customers also to a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) constituted by the G-7 to monitor the cases of money laundering.
The move to monitor suspected accounts by the local law enforcement agencies comes after the allegations leveled by the United States that some individuals and charity organization in the Gulf countries are channeling millions of dollars in donations to fund terrorism.
Saud Al-Mahmood, assistant director of Interpol in the Middle East and North Africa, noted that the ongoing conference will also discuss how to reorganize and streamline charity operations on the regional level.
Ali M. Al-Ghaith, SAMA director for banking inspection, insurance and financial leasing, said that several anti-crime agencies and government department will make presentations at a workshop on the sidelines of the conference. Al-Ghaith himself will present a paper on training of officials to curb money laundering and commercial fraud.
This will be in addition to several other topics, such as embezzlement of funds and counterfeiting of currencies, to be discussed by the delegates attending the event. The aim of holding this conference, however, is to work out a strategy to ensure maximum security to prevent money laundering.
Moreover, this interactive three-day event will also provide an opportunity for professionals like bankers, accountants, auditors and lawyers to learn as how to curb this evil.
