RIYADH, 13 May — Two major issues — money laundering and commercial fraud — will top the agenda of a high-profile meeting organized by the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI), to be officially opened here today.
The Kingdom’s central bank, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), is likely to unveil at the seminar a strategic plan to combat money laundering at the local and international levels.
A panel of experts representing government agencies and the private sector will participate in the event and discuss how to tackle commercial frauds, economic crimes and laundering, Osama Al-Kurdi, CSCCI’s secretary-general, told Arab News.
Saudi Arabia has taken several measures to check money laundering and commercial fraud in the wake of Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.
The Kingdom has invited the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to visit the country to get a first-hand impression of how Saudi Arabia’s financial institutions operate. Al-Kurdi, however, said that money laundering has emerged to be the biggest threat to the global monetary system.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the volume of money laundered globally exceeded $28.5 billion in 1999, compared to a meager half a billion dollars in 1995. Hence the seminar aims at identifying the problems and to devise ways of combating this growing evil, which will adversely affect the monetary institutions of the region.
In order to combat money laundering on the domestic front, the Kingdom is also considering strong legislation.
SAMA is already working on a draft that follows the model of the laws enacted by certain other Gulf states, according to reports published.
Financial and commercial authorities in the Kingdom have urged companies, traders and banks to inform them of suspicious dealings and to avoid any dealings that would lead to money laundering.
The sources said banks and companies in the Kingdom have been cautioned by the Commerce Ministry about conducting financial dealings without complete information about either beneficiaries or senders.
The seminar will seek out views about money laundering and commercial fraud from various government agencies, private institutions and Saudi businessmen. A cross section of the local business community, who strongly refute the charges of money laundering and terrorist funding leveled by the United States, said here yesterday that "not a single suspicious transaction involving money laundering has so far been traced by the enforcement agencies".
These views were reiterated by local business leaders before the opening of the seminar. They also accused the American media of playing a biased role and quoting concocted sources to frame charges against Saudi businessmen and companies to implicate them and malign their image.
The US Treasury Department has urged SAMA to intensify the automation of banking services and to encourage advanced payment systems such as credit cards as part of its efforts to combat money laundering.
The US government expressed its surprise over the growing use of cash by Saudis for monetary transactions, saying that such transactions would make it difficult for authorities to monitor suspicious dealings.
Payments using credit cards and ATM cards make it easier to trace transactions and the transfer of funds, as well as financial relations between individuals and institutions, they said.
