Minister of Finance H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi (right) with other speakers at the opening session of the working group meeting of the Egmont Group in Doha , yesterday
With the tactics and techniques used in money laundering (M/L) and terrorism financing (T/F) crimes constantly changing, the Financial Intellilgences Units (FIUs) have a critical role to play in combating financial crimes, the Minister of Finance H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi said here yesterday.
The Minister was addressing the opening session of the working group meeting of the Egmont Group. The Egmont Group is a united body of 152 Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). The Group provides a platform for the secure exchange of expertise and financial intelligence to combat money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF).
The methods and techniques used in money laundering and terrorism financing crimes are constantly changing, especially with the increasing capacity to utilize the rapid technological developments in carrying out these crimes.
Despite the application of international standards to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, perpetrators of these crimes are familiar with the systems through which they can pass the illicit funds.
“This reflects the importance of developing the capacity of financial institutions and to strengthen cooperation and coordination among them to monitor, track and prevent these crimes”, the minister said.
The success in the fight against these crimes is not easy but it is also not impossible if there is will, capacity and international coordination to combat them. He stressed that Qatar has supported all international efforts that seek to combat different types of crimes.
The country still supports the government and non-governmental organizations to overcome the phenomena that threaten the security and stability of societies, Ali Shareef said.
The Minister noted that the Qatar Financial Information Unit (QFIU) adopted Egmont's framework to efficiently represent the Asian region recently; and currently heads one of the technical department of the group.
This comes from Qatar's belief in the Egmont Group Charter and will continue its support due to the importance of strengthening global cooperation to exchange information between countries in all fields, he added.
