The Ministry of Finance recently ordered that bank accounts belonging to expatriate workers who choose to return to their home country permanently without first closing their account should be closed by the ministry itself.
The ministry will transfer that money to a special “save and keep” account which it runs until the owner requests it. Then it will be transferred to the owner, wherever he or she may be.
The decision shows that good judgment is prevailing at the Ministry. Why in the past did we force expatriates who decided to leave the country to withdraw their money from our banks, only for it to be deposited in foreign banks abroad?
Who benefits from that situation?
It brings to mind an earlier decision banning anyone without a valid iqama (residence permit) in our country from opening bank accounts or depositing money in local banks. This means that even if someone wants to benefit from our strong banking system and its excellent reputation by putting away some of their savings, we will not allow them to do so.
Imagine someone coming to us and saying: “Look, I don’t want to live in your country but I trust it is safe to put my money here.”
And we tell him: “Get lost.”
Some may argue we do this because we are concerned about money laundering, fearing that this money may be used to finance terrorism.
To these I say: There are laws and regulations applied all over the world, including those countries we consider advanced, which guard against such unlawful acts. We should apply them here as well. We must admit it would be almost impossible to completely get rid of the phenomenon of money laundering, but it could nevertheless be contained and reduced.
American banks know that they have the highest incidence of money laundering in the world. They launder the equivalent of $150 billion annually, with the largest part being handled by banks in Florida — a state governed by the brother of George W. Bush.
Those who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks used American banks to transfer the money that was allegedly used for the operation. Despite this, the Americans still welcome all those who want to open accounts or deposit money in their banks.
Why, then, do we insist on being more royal than the king?
If it were established that such accounts were used for illegal purposes, they could easily be blocked at our banks.
We could even confiscate the money contained in them.
Of course, the problem of enforcing the laws and regulations remains. This would oblige the employees of the Ministry of Finance and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to make more of an effort than is presently the case.
Whether the employees of the organizations actually want to take the trouble to start reviewing the existing regulations is another question entirely.
Arab News Opinion 1 March 2003
