Al-Alaq details achievements in protecting the financial system

Iraqi News

7 days ago

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, announced today, Wednesday, that the results of the mutual evaluation in Iraq revealed strengths in the areas of transparency and financial data. He also indicated that work is underway to build and relicense private and government banks.
In his speech at the second session of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Conference, attended by an Iraqi News Agency (INA) correspondent, Al-Alaq said: "The Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Council continues reform and combating money laundering through the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Council, the Central Bank of Iraq, the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Offices, law enforcement agencies and institutions, and the ministries and parties that participate with us within and outside the Council, in order to consolidate the foundations of integrity and enhance financial stability."
He added, "We recognize that money laundering and terrorist financing crimes are not just ordinary financial crimes, but rather a gateway to destabilization and strengthening confidence in financial, social, and political systems. Therefore, local and international cooperation and joint action are no longer an option, but rather an urgent necessity to combat these crimes."
He noted that "we in the Republic of Iraq are actively cooperating with our international partners, particularly with the Financial Action Task Force and the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force, to implement international standards in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing."
Al-Alaq explained that "Iraq underwent a mutual evaluation process, which determines the extent of its commitment to implementing international standards and reflects the sobriety of the measures taken and efforts made to combat these crimes. The results of the mutual evaluation in Iraq revealed a distinct set of strengths in the areas of transparency, financial data, and access to them by relevant authorities, as well as the quality of reporting, which the quality of the reports that resulted in large confiscations and the amount of money recovered." He pointed to "the multiple channels of international cooperation that enabled Iraq to exchange high-value information quickly and efficiently with counterpart units through a secure communications network that ensures the confidentiality and speed of information."
He explained that "the report pointed to a number of weaknesses that need to be improved and addressed, which we have urgently and immediately addressed by taking appropriate steps to overcome them, mitigating their risks and ensuring they are not exploited for money laundering. This comes as part of the Republic of Iraq's commitment, at the highest levels, to continuous cooperation with the Financial Action Task Force on this issue, as is the case with the other member states."
Al-Alaq emphasized that "the Republic of Iraq has achieved many important achievements in protecting the financial and banking system, which is a fundamental pillar of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing system, and protecting it from misuse in suspicious or illegal operations, especially after the completion of the national risk assessment process. Among the most prominent of these measures were:
First: Enhancing the balances of Iraqi banks abroad so that they can directly implement their customers' requests through correspondent banks, followed by implementing these transfers through specialized international institutions. This prevented these transfers from being used for purposes other than those intended.
Second: Introducing a cash sales system for foreign currency through banking and non-banking financial institutions, ensuring that these currencies reach their true beneficiaries and for the purposes for which they are intended, without anyone engaging in suspicious transactions. This international system is the distribution system for the dollar in Iraq and is considered the system among countries of the world.
Third: Establish a central registry at the national level that includes beneficial ownership data, allowing relevant authorities to access and regularly update this registry to enhance transparency and prevent financial misuse.
Fourth: Automate work in an integrated manner between the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Office, reporting and investigation agencies, oversight, and customs. This represents a qualitative leap in implementing the procedures required to limit suspicious transactions and enhance the efficiency of risk response. We are in the final stages of integrated linkages between the Central Bank, Customs, and Taxes, which will form an important framework for tightening control over all foreign financial transactions.
Fifth: Establishing an electronic platform to implement targeted financial sanctions pursuant to Security Council resolutions and international standards immediately, allowing designated financial and non-financial professional institutions to access the names listed on global and local lists, facilitating compliance and achieving greater effectiveness in implementing sanctions.
Sixth: Issuance of the Parallel Financial Investigations Manual in Iraq, which represents an advanced stage in organizing and directing financial investigations in parallel with criminal investigations to dry up and confiscate the sources of financial crime.
Seventh: Due to the modernization of the real estate sector, one of the high-profile sectors, as part of several measures to mitigate these risks, it was necessary to: The most important of these is the issuance of a mechanism for buying and selling real estate through the banking system.
Eighth: The Kurdistan Region's effective participation in efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing through its representation on the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Council at the federal level. This representation is part of the comprehensive national commitment to the Council's decisions, with the designation of specialized courts in the region to consider judicial proceedings and expedite these cases in line with national and international standards related to combating financial crimes in the region and unifying these procedures with the central authority.
Ninth: We have taken a series of measures to enhance financial inclusion, not only with the aim of distributing banking products to customers, but also enabling relevant authorities to track the movement of funds, knowing their sources, and identify their true beneficiaries, thus enhancing integrity and transparency in the financial system. In this context, digital transformation has emerged as a key tool for achieving these goals.
He continued: "Work is underway to rebuild and relicense private and government banks based on advanced anti-money laundering practices and to enhance their role in the economy through diversifying services and products and digital transformation. This plan is a distinguished model at the international level in subjecting all banks to advanced international standards and principles."
Al-Alaq explained that 'these achievements would not have been possible without the political will and confidence that the government in general and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in particular have given to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Organization, and in light of this, the efforts of all government institutions to keep Iraq away from suspicious activities.'
He stressed that 'the efforts of the national system to combat money laundering and terrorist financing will not stop in combating these crimes, mitigating their effects, and developing its working mechanisms in a way that ensures that financial institutions, both banking and non-banking, do not become safe havens for the laundering of money generated by criminal activities. Here, we look forward to expanding the scope of partnership between local and international institutions for the benefit of the country.'