Qatar Financial Information Unit

Last updated

The Qatar Financial Information Unit (QFIU) is a Qatari government regulatory agency responsible for financial intelligence efforts to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism. Like other national Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) around the world, it requires banks, investment companies, insurers and other financial institutions to report suspicious financial transactions. QFIU then analyzes the information and disseminates the relevant data to law enforcement authorities for further investigation and action. [1]

Contents

Founded in 2004, QFIU is led by Ahmad bin Eid al-Thani. Its mission is to “protect the integrity and economy of the State of Qatar through effective exchange of information, transparency enhancement and capacity building to help detect and deter money laundering and terrorism financing activities.” [1] The QFIU is a “semiautonomous component” of Qatar’s National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Committee (NAMLC), and is housed in the Qatar Central Bank. [2] Other national partners include the Qatar Financial Centre, State Security Bureau, Ministry of Interior, Criminal Investigation Department Section of Fighting Economic Crimes, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Business and Trade, Public Prosecution, General Directorate of Customs, Financial Institutions, and Ministry of Social Affairs.

International cooperation

QFIU also partners with FIUs in the region and worldwide. It is an active member of the Egmont Group, an “informal network” of international FIUs organized “to foster international cooperation and information exchange” among its 139 members. [3] QFIU serves as co-chair of the Asia Group within Egmont, along with FIU-India. [1] In order to promote cooperation and information sharing with international and regional FIU’s and provide professional development to its staff, QFIU is a regular participant in Egmont and other FIU and Anti-Money Laundering conferences and forums. [1] [4]

In 2009, QFIU signed a Statement of Cooperation with the Japan Financial Intelligence Center to expand financial intelligence sharing by “facilitating the exchange of information in assisting investigations concerning money laundering, terrorist financing and related crimes.” [5]

Effectiveness

A 2008 report produced by the Middle East and North African Financial Action Task Force and conducted by IMF officials raised several shortcomings in QFIU’s creation and operations. According to the report, “The main shortcoming is that the administrative order establishing the FIU and empowering it with a number of functions appears to be inconsistent with the provisions of the AML Law that gave such powers to the coordinator of NAMLC.” It also noted that “the quality of STR [Suspicious Transaction Reports] needs improving,” that information was not adequately protected, and that there was periodic review of its effectiveness in combatting terrorism finance and money laundering. [2]

QFIU addressed these issues directly in its 2009 Annual Report, declaring, “The FIU attached high importance to amending Law No. (28) of 2008 on Anti-Money Laundering and its amendments, following the mutual evaluation report of the International Monetary Fund in 2007, which revealed many deficiencies and weaknesses in the legislative regulations related to anti-money laundering and terrorism financing.” [6] To improve its operations, QFIU developed an eight-point, five-year strategic plan, which commenced in 2013. [1]

Although Qatar has enacted several pieces of legislation to address gaps and inconsistencies in its anti-money laundering and terrorism finance laws in recent years, the country has been criticized for not fully implementing or enforcing these measures. Former US Treasury Department official Matthew Levitt has noted, “To date, implementation and enforcement have not been a component of Qatar’s approach to these issues. Instead, Qatar routinely stresses to investors and critics alike the passage of laws that, on paper, appear robust but are almost never implemented or enforced.” [7] In March 2022, during the Fourth Level High Strategic Dialogue between the state of Qatar & the United Nations office of counter terrorism (UNOCT), strategic priorities and collaborations for effective United Nations support to member’s states on Counter terrorism were discussed by both bodies. Qatar is the second largest contributor to the United Nations trust funds for counter terrorism out of a total 35 donors. This was all reported in the article by The United Nations on 27th March 2022. [8] Also it was revealed in the article by US Department of state that there were no terrorist attacks reported in Qatar in 2019. [9]

In its 2013 Annual Report, QFIU reported record numbers of Suspicious Transaction Reports (313) and suspects (352), though these numbers may reflect better adoption of anti-money laundering and terrorism finance measures as opposed to an increase in suspicious activities. Only 112 cases were disseminated to judicial or law enforcement authorities. [1] According to a 2014 U.S. State Department report, Qatar prosecuted only one money-laundering case in 2013, and had no convictions. [10] The same report lists Qatar as a “Major Money Laundering Country” and a “country of concern.” [11]

An Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) Section was established under the Companies Affairs Department at MOCI pursuant in Qatar to Decision No. (95) of 2019. The Section’s responsibilities included coordination with the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Committee (NAMLC). Providing NAMLC with any relevant data and information, collaboration with NAMLC to complete the National Risk Assessment of risks of money laundering, terrorism financing and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and implement its outcomes. [12] On March 31st, 2023, FATF published its report on Qatar’s recent initiatives for anti-money laundering and claimed that Qatar has made substantive improvements to its system to combat money laundering and terrorism financing and its technical compliance with FATF requirements is strong. The report also stated that the country is effectively confiscating large sums, including proceeds and instrumentalities of crime, and property of equivalent value. Qatar has implemented a risk-based approach to the assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks and the supervision of the financial sector. [13] [14]

QFIU reported even larger numbers of Suspicious Transaction Reports (516) and suspects (787) in 2014, though the number of cases disseminated to national or foreign law enforcement agencies declined markedly. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Money laundering</span> Process of concealing the origin of money

Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions with varying definitions. It is usually a key operation of organized crime.

In financial regulation, a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) or Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) is a report made by a financial institution about suspicious or potentially suspicious activity as required under laws designed to counter money laundering, financing of terrorism and other financial crimes. The criteria to decide when a report must be made varies from country to country, but generally is any financial transaction that either a) does not make sense to the financial institution; b) is unusual for that particular client; or c) appears to be done only for the purpose of hiding or obfuscating another, separate transaction. The report is filed with that country's financial crime enforcement agency, which is typically a specialist agency designed to collect and analyse transactions and then report these to relevant law enforcement teams.

The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering and to maintain certain interest. In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing.

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is an Australian government financial intelligence agency responsible for monitoring financial transactions to identify money laundering, organised crime, tax evasion, welfare fraud and terrorism financing. AUSTRAC was established in 1989 under the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988. It implements in Australia the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which Australia joined in 1990.

Terrorism financing is the provision of funds or providing financial support to individual terrorists or non-state actors.

The Financial Action Task Force blacklist, is a blacklist maintained by the Financial Action Task Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units</span>

The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units is an international organization that facilitates cooperation and intelligence sharing between national financial intelligence units (FIUs) to investigate and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. National FIUs collect information on suspicious or unusual financial activity and are responsible for processing and analyzing the information received. FIUs are normally not law enforcement agencies themselves, findings are shared with appropriate law enforcement or prosecution bodies if sufficient evidence of unlawful activity is found. The Egmont Group is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Financial intelligence (FININT) is the gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest, to understand their nature and capabilities, and predict their intentions. Generally the term applies in the context of law enforcement and related activities. One of the main purposes of financial intelligence is to identify financial transactions that may involve tax evasion, money laundering or some other criminal activity. FININT may also be involved in identifying financing of criminal and terrorist organisations. Financial intelligence can be broken down into two main areas, collection and analysis. Collection is normally done by a government agency, known as a financial intelligence organisation or Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The agency will collect raw transactional information and Suspicious activity reports (SAR) usually provided by banks and other entities as part of regulatory requirements. Data may be shared with other countries through intergovernmental networks. Analysis, may consist of scrutinizing a large volume of transactional data using data mining or data-matching techniques to identify persons potentially engaged in a particular activity. SARs can also be scrutinized and linked with other data to try to identify specific activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosfinmonitoring</span> Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service

The Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation is a Federal Service that was created by a decree of President Vladimir Putin of November 1, 2001, and aimed to collect and analyze information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. The organization also provides lists of people accused of terrorist or "extremist" activities and books.

Anti-Money Laundering is software used in the finance and legal industries to help companies comply with the legal requirements for financial institutions and other regulated entities to prevent or report money laundering activities. AML software can facilitate faster and more accurate compliance and investigations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial crime</span>

Financial crime is crime committed against property, involving the unlawful conversion of the ownership of property to one's own personal use and benefit. Financial crimes may involve fraud ; theft; scams or confidence tricks; tax evasion; bribery; sedition; embezzlement; identity theft; money laundering; and forgery and counterfeiting, including the production of counterfeit money and consumer goods.

In financial regulation, a politically exposed person (PEP) is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function. A PEP generally presents a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence they may hold. The terms "politically exposed person" and senior foreign political figure are often used interchangeably, particularly in international forums.

The counter-terrorism page primarily deals with special police or military organizations that carry out arrest or direct combat with terrorists. This page deals with the other aspects of counter-terrorism:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering</span> Inter-governmental organisation against serious financial crime

The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) is a FATF style regional inter-governmental (international) body, the members of which are committed to effectively implementing the international standards against money laundering (AML), the financing of terrorism (CTF) and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. APG was founded in 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand, and currently consists of 42 member jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region and a number of observer jurisdictions and international/regional observer organisations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial Monitoring Unit</span>

The Financial Monitoring Unit is the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Pakistan established under the provisions of Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. It is an independent intelligence service department of the Government of Pakistan and primarily responsible for analyzing transactions, money laundering cases, building efforts against the terrorist financing, and all sorts of financial crimes within the jurisdiction of financial laws of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moneyval</span>

Moneyval is the common and official name of the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism. Moneyval is a monitoring body of the Council of Europe, with 47 member states, reporting directly to its principal organ, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau – informally known as the Fraud Squad – is a specialised division of Ireland's national police force, the Garda Síochána, that investigates economic crimes. The Bureau operates as part of the Garda Special Crime Operations branch and works alongside other sections of the force, as well as the external Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), an agency tasked with investigating white-collar crime. The Economic Crime Bureau is responsible for the investigation of serious financial fraud and corruption. It was established in April 1996 and is based at Harcourt Square, Dublin 2. The GNECB is headed by an officer of Detective Chief Superintendent rank, who reports to the Assistant Commissioner of Special Crime Operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Warsaw Convention</span> Council of Europe convention about money laundering and crime investigation

The Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism, also known as the Warsaw Convention or CETS 198, is a Council of Europe convention which aims to facilitate international co-operation and mutual assistance in investigating crime and tracking down, seizing and confiscating the proceeds thereof.

The Financial Reporting Center (FRC) in Somalia was established by the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, 2016 to operate as a National Central Agency that is responsible for the receipt, analysis and appropriate dissemination of all information relating to money-laundering and terrorism financing.
The FRC serves as Somalia's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an independent center of expertise in the analysis of suspicious financial activity and the investigation of financial crimes.

The Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offenses is the financial intelligence unit (FIU) of the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. As FIU, the Sepblac is the supervisory authority for the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the execution of sanctions and financial countermeasures of the 2010 Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism Act. Since 30 October 2020, the director of the Executive Service is Pedro Manuel Comín Rodríguez.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "QFIU Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Qatar Financial Information Unit. Government of Qatar.
  2. 1 2 "Mutual Evaluation Report: Anti‐Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism" (PDF). Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  3. ↑ "List of Members | The Egmont Group". www.egmontgroup.org. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  4. 1 2 "QFIU Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Qatar Financial Information Unit. Government of Qatar.
  5. ↑ Kassar, Adnan. "Global Arab Network | Qatar, Japan Boosting Joint Economic cooperation | Economics | Economics". www.english.globalarabnetwork.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  6. ↑ "QFIU Annual Report 2009" (PDF). Qatar Financial Information Unit. Government of Qatar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-01.
  7. ↑ Levitt, Matthew (2014-09-24). "Qatar's Not-So-Charitable Record on Terror Finance". The Hill. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  8. ↑ "Fourth High-Level Strategic Dialogue between the State of Qatar & UNOCT | Office of Counter-Terrorism". www.un.org. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  9. ↑ "Country Reports on Terrorism 2021: Qatar". US Department of state. June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Countries/Jurisdictions of Primary Concern - Qatar". Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  11. ↑ "2014 INCSR: Major Money Laundering Countries". Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  12. ↑ "Outcomes FATF Plenary, 22-24 February 2023". www.fatf-gafi.org. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  13. ↑ "Mutual Evaluation of Qatar". www.fatf-gafi.org. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  14. ↑ "Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing section – Ministry of Commerce and Industry" . Retrieved 2023-09-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.