The Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Unit participated in the 25th plenary meeting of MENAFATF on AML/CFT which was held in Kuwait, State of Kuwait during the period 25-27 April 2017 and it was presided by the State of Kuwait, represented by H.E. Mr. Talal Ali Al-Sayegh, MENAFATF President, Chairman of Kuwait Financial Intelligence Unit (KWFIU) and President of the National Committee for AML/CFT.&
The plenary meeting was attended by a number of AML/CFT experts from 17 member states in the Group Jordan, UAE, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, KSA, Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania. The meeting was also attended by representatives from several Observer states and organizations within the Group France, UK, USA, Australia, Somalia, IMF, the World Bank, GCC, FATF, UN, Egmont Group and the Arab Monitory Fund.
The plenary meeting tackled a number of important subjects related to the work and different activities of the Group, and it has taken several decisions in their regard.&
Reinforcing MENAFATF Efforts in the field of CFT
In this context, the second meeting of the Operational Experts Forum on Terrorist Financing (OFTF), presided by the State of Qatar, was held on the margin of the 25th plenary meeting on the 22nd of April 2017. And in the scope of exchange of practical experiences by the participants, the forum tackled the challenges and best practices to detect and prevent terrorism financing operations and in this meeting the focus was on the return of foreign terrorist fighters and the financing of small terrorist cells.
Follow-up process undertaken after the process of rating member states’ compliance with the International Standards on AML/CFT in the scope of the first round of evaluation
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In the scope of the follow-up processes conducted after the mutual evaluation processes, the plenary meeting discussed the progress made by some member states in terms of compliance with the AML/CFT international standards, and it praised the achievements realized in terms of promoting relevant pertinent systems based on the plan of the mutual evaluation report for each of them. The plenary meeting has also considered four follow-up reports related to Syria, Iraq, Oman, and Lebanon.
Moreover, the plenary meeting perused two update reports related to Jordan and Kuwait, which included the latest developments and procedures taken by such states in order to improve their AML/CFT system.
Preparing for the second round of Mutual Evaluation
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In order to get ready for the second round of processes on rating the compliance of member states with the (amended) international standards on AML/CFT, as per the new evaluation methodology issued by FATF, the plenary meeting discussed the amended procedures of the second round of evaluations and the round’s follow up process. & &
Group meetings held on the margin of the plenary meeting
On the margin of the plenary meeting, the second meeting of the Operational Experts Forum on Terrorist Financing was held on the 22nd of April 2017, along with the meeting of the National Risk Assessment Committee and the meeting of the FIUs forum held on the 23th of April 2017. Besides, the meetings of the Mutual Evaluation Working Group and the Technical Assistance and Typologies Working Group took place on Monday the 24th of April 2017. The plenary meeting adopted the reports of the Chairs and Co-chairs of the working groups and the committees, and approved their recommendations.