Al-Alaq Details The Achievements Of Protecting The Financial System In Iraq

Banks  Economy News – Baghdad  The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, announced on Wednesday that the results of the Mutual Evaluation in Iraq revealed strengths in the areas of transparency and financial statements. He also indicated that work is underway to build and relicense private and government banks.

Al-Alaq said in his speech at the second session of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Conference, which was attended by "Al-Eqtisad News," that "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 entities that participate with us within and outside the Council, in order to consolidate the foundations of integrity and enhance financial stability."

He added: "We realize 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 curb these crimes." 

He pointed out that "we in the Republic of Iraq cooperate actively 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 soundness of the measures taken and the 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, and the quality of reporting, which resulted in significant confiscations and the extent of the recovery of funds." 

He pointed out that "the multiplicity of international cooperation channels 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 taken the initiative to address urgently and immediately by taking appropriate steps to overcome them, in a way that mitigates their risks and ensures that they are not exploited for money laundering operations. 

This comes within the framework of the Republic of Iraq's commitment, at the highest levels, to continuous cooperation with the Financial Action Task Force concerned with the issue, similar to the rest of the member states mentioned above."

Al-Alaq emphasized that "the Republic of Iraq has achieved many important accomplishments to protect the financial and banking system, which is a fundamental pillar of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing system, and to protect it from misuse in suspicious or illegal operations, especially after completing 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 carry out their customers’ requests through correspondent banks, through implementing these transfers through specialized international institutions, preventing the use of these transfers for purposes other than those intended, and came in response to mitigating the risks arising from external transfers. 

We have made great efforts to enhance this practice and open multiple channels, and today we have succeeded in opening accounts with international correspondent banks in a large number and in different currencies, within a mechanism that is considered the most transparent and controlled within the framework of these important operations.

Second: Establishing a cash system for selling foreign currency through banking and non-banking financial institutions in a way that ensures 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 considered the dollar distribution system in Iraq and is considered the system among countries of the world.

Third: Establishing a central registry at the state level that includes data on the beneficial owner, allowing relevant authorities to access this registry and update its data regularly to enhance transparency and prevent misuse of the funds.

Fourth: Automating work in an integrated manner between the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Office, reporting and investigation agencies, oversight, and customs. 

This represents a qualitative leap in the implementation of the procedures required to limit suspicious transactions and enhance the efficiency of response to threats. We are in the final stages of the integrated linkage process between the Central Bank, Customs, and Taxes, which will constitute an important framework for tightening control over all external financial transactions.

Fifth: Establishing an electronic platform to implement financial sanctions targeting 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. 

This will facilitate compliance and achieve greater effectiveness in implementing sanctions.

Sixth: Issuing a parallel financial investigations guide 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, which is one of the high-risk sectors, several measures were taken to mitigate these risks, the most important of which was the issuance of a mechanism for buying and selling real estate through the banking system.

Eighth: The Kurdistan Region shall participate effectively in efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing through its representation in the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Council at the federal level. 

This representation shall be part of the comprehensive national commitment to the Council’s decisions, with the identification of competent courts in the region to consider judicial procedures and expedite these cases in a manner consistent 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 the customer base for banking products, but also enabling the relevant authorities to track the movement of funds, understand their sources, and identify the true beneficiaries, which enhances integrity and transparency in the financial system. 

In this context, digital transformation has emerged as a key tool to achieve these goals. We have worked to develop digital systems and enhance the technological infrastructure to enable access to data and its analysis accurately and quickly, enabling the tracking of financial transactions in a way that contributes to raising the level of compliance with international standards,

 in addition to improving the customer experience and expanding the scope of electronic banking services. We seek to employ the use of artificial intelligence, which makes it difficult to hide the financial impact and helps in controlling financial operations in an organized manner.

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 diversification of services and products and digital transformation. 

This plan represents a distinguished international model for 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 money laundering arising from criminal operations. Here, we look forward to expanding the scope of partnership between local and international institutions for the benefit of the country.”  https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=55936