In just a few years the UAE has made significant progress in the fight against financial crime. Reporting, investigations, prosecutions, and fines have all risen dramatically as authorities have thwarted criminals with ever-increasing effectiveness.
To put this progress into context, when it comes to confiscations (as a percentage of GDP) the UAE has soared over 80 places to become one of the leading five countries globally, according to analysis by the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime.
Yet we cannot rest on our laurels. The fight against those seeking to make ill-gotten gains is, and will remain, never-ending.
These efforts to strengthen the UAE’s AML/CFT system stem from a clear set of policies set by the country’s leadership to combat illicit finance and preserve the integrity of the global financial system.
We know from our cooperation with strategic partners such as the US, EU and UK that banks and governments need to work much more closely together, lifting barriers to the sharing of information. Collaboration helps us all build a clearer picture of criminal networks and suspicious transactions and better understand, assess, and then mitigate risks. It also provides authorities with better quality intelligence to investigate and prosecute.
At the Executive Office we are also working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to facilitate partnerships and co-ordination with the international community on financial crime concerns. We have invested heavily in talent and training. International cooperation has expanded with new Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties signed in 2022 and more to come next year.
Financial crime continues to grow in sophistication, and frequently involves global patterns of activity that extend across multiple jurisdictions and financial institutions. Information sharing within and between public and private organisations is a key enabler in the fight against financial crime.
Through public private partnership we are improving joint awareness of financial crime threats. In the private sphere this goes further than simply the banking system. A group of other companies and professions have a huge part to play. I refer here to real estate agents; dealers in precious metals and dealers in precious stones; lawyers, notaries, other independent legal professionals, and, importantly, accountants.
In the world of anti-money laundering these non-financial businesses and professions are called Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFPBs).
We have begun working closely with DNFPBs and trade associations through the rubric of the Public-Private Partnership Committee (PPPC). It brings together the regulatory and supervisory stakeholders with the private sector to improve financial crime prevention, investigation, and prosecution results.
This combination of skills and expertise enables us to ensure effective use of systems and processes. Training, capacity building and dialogue are also cornerstones of the PPPC. This has led to significant improvements in how financial intelligence is being used through investigations and prosecutions.
This reflects the additional investment we’re making in the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the investigative body that gathers data on suspicious activities and shares analysis with relevant government agencies.
It has added 30 new employees during the second half of 2022 alone. Emphasis has been on hiring experienced professionals with relevant backgrounds in compliance, banking, law enforcement and investigations.
Increasing transparency is also a key priority.
To understand who ultimately owns UAE-registered companies we have created a National Economic Register. The register has created a unified approach to information requirements across the UAE, and has improved the accuracy of data, allowing risk assessments to be deepened and suspicious activities spotted.
The concept of beneficial ownership exists because the direct legal owner of an asset is not necessarily the person who actually controls and benefits from it. The register now makes all this information accessible in one centrally coordinated place to competent authorities which aides broader information sharing efforts and investigation.
It remains that the interconnectedness of international organised criminal networks, often accelerated by technological advancement, presents serious concerns. But we are fighting back through the power of intelligence, advanced analytics, technology, investigations and public-private partnerships. The UAE’s Public-Private Partnership Committee has just this month concluded its consultation paper on information sharing, which will feed into new legislation.
We are also leveraging technology, which can facilitate data collection, processing and analysis and help identify and manage risks more effectively and in real time. We have created several online project management tools and reporting platforms that are tailored to the national requirements.
Faster payments and transactions, more accurate identification systems, monitoring, record keeping and information sharing between competent authorities and regulated entities also offer advantages.
Similarly, artificial intelligence (machine learning, natural language processing) can help to better identify risks and respond to, communicate, and monitor suspicious activity. Simply put, better and more up-to-date customer profiles mean more accurate risk assessments and better decision-making.
These innovative technological advances are a good reminder that the world of financial crime is fast evolving, and we will always have much still to do. But we can be encouraged by the progress made so far, and ensure all of society is involved in our ongoing efforts.
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