The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has supported all international efforts to combat money laundering and terror funding, Dr. Fahd Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), said here Saturday. Al-Mubarak, who is also Chairman of the Standing Committee for Combating Money Laundering, was speaking at the opening of the five-day 15th General Meeting of the Financial Action Group of Middle East and North Africa for Combating Money Laundering and terror funding. Al-Mubarak said that the hosting of the meeting in the Kingdom constitutes part of the government's plan to show support for international and regional efforts in combating money laundering and terror funding. The Kingdom, he said, has always supported efforts for protecting the world financial system against the dangers of these crimes. The government, he said, has recently approved modernizing the system for combating money laundering so as to be fully compatible with international requirements. Earlier this month, the Cabinet approved the law for combating money laundering, which will also be applied to fighting the funding of terrorism and terror organizations. The Cabinet statement indicated that the Kingdom plans to issue a new law to combat crimes related to terror funding. “Rules related to the crimes of financing terrorism, terrorist acts and terror organizations specified in the anti-money laundering law will continue to be applied until the issuance of a new law to combat such crimes,” Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, then said. Dr. Al-Mubarak emphasized that the concerned authorities in each country should cooperate with each other to combat the laundering of money. In this connection, he noted, the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) would improve ways of protecting economic systems against such crimes. Countries participating in the meeting include: Jordan, United Arab, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. France, Britain, the United States. World Bank, GCC, Arab Monetary Fund, Euroasian Group and the United Nations are also attending the meeting as observers.
