UAE, EU discuss anti-money laundering efforts

Officials from the UAE and the European Union have held discussions on combatting money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) organised the virtual workshops on April 5 and 6.

The sessions discussed the importance of a multi-agency approach to parallel investigations, in addition to enhancing cooperation between stakeholders on the domestic and international levels..

The discussions also touched on ways to employ Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) intelligence to disrupt and dismantle illicit networks.

Key law enforcement entities across the UAE benefited from the skills and knowledge exchange, including the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecution.

"Using parallel financial investigations and increasing cooperation and better information sharing between different government agencies and internationally at each stage of the fight against serious crimes is key to enhancing our ongoing prevention efforts," said Glenn McDowell, EU AML/CFT Global Facility expert.

 "The more information available in understanding criminal activity, the better we can become at spotting patterns and areas of interest," said Amna Fikri, Director of the Economic and Trade Affairs Department at MoFAIC.

The joint training sessions form a key part of the UAE’s wide range of actions to strengthen its efforts in the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, including initiatives to facilitate domestic and international cooperation.

In March, the UAE hosted similar workshops with the US Department of the Treasury, and Revenue and Customs of the United Kingdom.