Jan.02, 2010, 10:07:16 PM, From: Business & Economy
Parliament recently approved the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism, as well as drafted laws for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
Ratifying the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism by the parliament aligns with other state efforts to combat terrorism in all forms. This approval comes after requesting the issue of these legislations by official and non-official bodies, The Studies and Economic Center urged Parliament to quickly pass the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing legislation that was sent to it in November 2007.
In an open letter to the Speaker of Parliament, the center said the legislation delay will expose Yemen to punishable measures and a sever rebuke, after it was given a April 2010 deadline by the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force to approve it.
The delay may also have effects on the national economy, triggering a decline in grants, in addition to losing the trust in the financial sector and then further sanctions would be imposed, the center said.
The letter also urged to activate the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Unit at the Yemeni Central Bank and other banks and exchange firms as well as continuous training for employees at the unit to introduce them to the newest approaches to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
A report by the task force earlier noted that Yemen had not met its commitment towards combating money laundering and terrorist financing, pointing to the partly action in this regard amid the inactive Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Unit at the YCB. For its part, the center said the law 35-2003 was vague and short of tackling all developed financial crimes in the globalization. The law did not also contain the criminalization of terrorist financing, it added.
On the other hand, the Supervisory Committee demanded last week for the final approval for these legislations which will improve governmental systems for combating money laundering and terrorist financing in recent days.
This committee’s statement on the legislation came as result of a meeting the Supervisory Committee held last Monday, chaired by Finance Minister Noman al-Suhaibi. The Supervisory Committee affirmed the importance of open communication with the Presidency of the Parliament to accelerate the adoption of the newly drafted laws.
The Finance Minister stressed the importance of improving these systems in Yemen as a prerequisite to strengthen the national precautionary measures for dealing with such crimes in all of their forms, in conformity with international and regional effort to combat similar illegal activities.
In July of 2007, the Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Combating the Funding of Terrorism finalized a draft law in cooperation with the World Bank and the United Nations’ Office of Drugs and Crime, said the head of the Supervisory Committee, Mustafa Saif. The laws will limit the amount of money that can be transferred between banks and between countries.
Meanwhile, Yemen has only revealed 11 suspected money-laundering cases, one of which was turned over to the judiciary, according to information obtained by the center. It is worth mentioning that Yemen is one of the founding states of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force and is in charge of evaluating the commitment of countries towards fighting money laundering and terrorist financing.