Combating Money Laundering.. Why Doesn't Iraq Establish A Financial Intelligence Unit? - Urgent, 27 OCT

 Combating Money Laundering.. Why Doesn't Iraq Establish A Financial Intelligence Unit? - Urgent

Economy |Baghdad Today – Baghdad  Professor of International Economics, Nawar Al-Saadi, revealed today, Sunday (October 27, 2024), that there are failures in the file of combating money laundering inside Iraq, wondering about the reasons for not establishing a financial intelligence unit.

Al-Saadi said in an interview with Baghdad Today, "Despite the presence of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Office within the structure of the Central Bank of Iraq since 2007, this office suffers from a lack of resources and the absence of full support and coordination with other agencies, which limits its ability to combat money laundering effectively, especially in light of the challenges related to currency smuggling and the exploitation of security companies as outlets for illicit financing."

He explained that "establishing an independent financial intelligence unit could play a decisive role in unifying the efforts of multiple institutions to track financial crimes related to currency smuggling and terrorist financing, and achieving integration between intelligence analysis operations and financial information.

This unit will enhance Iraq's ability to cooperate internationally, especially with international organizations, which support the exchange of information between financial intelligence units globally, and enhance oversight of the banking system and combat money smuggling and terrorist financing practices through security companies and other channels."

He added, "From a security perspective, leaving the tasks of monitoring financial mafias within the jurisdiction of general military commands specialised in combating terrorism and criminal crime is a major challenge.

Financial crimes require a different methodology that includes financial analysis and investigation of transfers and properties, while criminal and terrorist crimes focus on methods and tactics related to immediate arrest and deterrence of violent activities."

“From an economic and financial perspective, financial crimes and terrorist crimes are fundamentally different; the former seek to camouflage and convert illicit funds into legitimate funds using legitimate economic channels, while terrorist crimes focus on achieving political goals through intimidation.

Separating these two types of crimes will enable Iraq to build an effective oversight system that is appropriate to the nature of each type of crime and will help protect the Iraqi economy from the challenges associated with money laundering and terrorist financing,” he added.

The professor of international economics concluded by saying that “with better integration between institutions and independent financial intelligence units, Iraq will have a greater ability to reduce financial crimes, increase transparency and enhance its position within the international economic system, which is essential to advance the local economy and restore confidence in the domestic financial system.”

On January 9, 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the removal of Iraq from the European Union’s list of high-risk countries in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, according to a letter received by the former Prime Minister from the European Commission mission.

In May 2020, the European Commission classified Iraq, along with other countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Iran and North Korea, as countries that pose financial risks to the European Union, due to shortcomings in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

On February 18, 2020, the Terrorist Funds Freezing Committee of the Cabinet Secretariat issued a list of 84 individuals and entities whose funds were frozen on charges of financing terrorism, at the request of the UN Security Council.   LINK