Iraq’s Integrity Commission Intensifies Anti-Corruption Efforts, Calls for Legislative Reform
In a vigorous pursuit to combat corruption and bolster the nation’s economic prospects, Haider Hanoun, the head of Iraq’s Integrity Commission, has declared the body’s ongoing efforts to reclaim embezzled funds over the past year. As a crucial institution in Iraq, the Integrity Commission’s mandate encompasses the investigation and eradication of corruption within government agencies.
Amendment to Reinforce Legal Framework
Hanoun has also called for the legislation of the second amendment to the Integrity Commission Law and the Unlawful Enrichment Law. This amendment is chiefly aimed at amplifying the legal framework, thereby enabling the Commission to combat corruption more effectively. The call for legislative reform is a testament to ongoing efforts to enhance the legal tools at the disposal of the Commission in its anti-corruption role.
Pushing for Transparency and Accountability
In a similar vein, the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, under the leadership of Hamid Al-Shablawi, is also seeking amendments to anti-corruption laws. The committee’s mission is to activate existing laws to fight corruption and establish clear mechanisms for the successful implementation of future anti-corruption laws. These endeavors are directed towards serving the public interest and promoting transparency and accountability.
International Efforts to Combat Corruption
On a global scale, anti-corruption movements are gaining traction. For instance, the Solomon Islands is conducting youth-led anti-corruption training workshops to foster transparency and accountability. Similarly, the Mobarakeh Steel Company in Iran is under investigation for allegations of corruption. These worldwide initiatives underscore the urgency of the fight against corruption and the need for comprehensive reforms.
There were Six Regional Call Centers in the US, 7,000 Redemption Centers and 1,400 Redemption Centers in Canada. Wells Fargo was over Redemption Centers in the US. In order to get the higher rates you need to obtain an 800 number, call a Call Center to obtain an appointment and do your exchange at Redemption Center.
A source from the Redemption Centers said that tonight Tues. 5 Dec. after the first half of the Hannity Show with his interview with Trump, Notifications to the Bond Holders would come out that would give them access to their funds.
Tier4b (us, the Internet Group) Notifications to set redemption appointments would start to come out that same Tues. night 5 Dec. and go throughout the night.
Tier 4b should be able to exchange as early as lunch time on Wed. 6 Dec.
Intermediaries will also be paid out Tues. night.
On Thurs. 7 Dec. through Wed. 13 Dec. Restitution and Reclamation Allowances lump sum payments will be paid out to those age 62 and on up.
Today Tues. 5 Dec. the Supreme Court ruled on the illegality of our tax system – meaning there will be no more federal or state income tax.
Over this coming weekend President Trump should be back,
Oh my gosh!!! I truly can hardly believe all the good news coming from Iraq this period. Maybe its not the RV, as of yet, but I can assure you it is coming and there is no stopping it. It is like a loaded freight train coming fast down the tracks. Are you ready for it?
I will try to fill you in today on the new developments in Iraq and with the currency reform process. But I caution any of you that listen to this TNT Tony and Ray idiots. Yes, I know many of are fed up with the everyday RV stuff or “it has to happen by the end of the month” stuff. How many months have we heard this? When will this idiot wise up and realize he is being scammed by his sources. Its all just rumors and nothing else.
I just wanted to tell all my blog readers that the earliest timeframe we can even expect the RV is early January 2024 and not before. Heck… the CBI has not even yet conducted the project to delete the zeros (currency swap out) so how can they now go to FOREX. Folks, I know the overall plan and I know it well. I know the steps that must be taken to get where they want to go. This over-speculating is doing nothing but driving people crazy with this everyday anticipation…..all for nothing! And that’s my point.. If many of these idiotic gurus would just listen to me then they could pass on some HONEST, TRUEFUL and USEFUL information to their listeners. But they won’t because their EGOs are too high and almighty. Besides if they had to research then they would have to actually do some work…oh God forbid if they had to research and work…. lol..lol..lol…
I am looking forward to my conversation with my CBI contact this coming Wednesday. This gets more and more exciting with each call to Iraq. So, we know from past conversations that Iraq wants and needs to continue the process of the financial reform plan, of which the currency reform is a part of and a VERY high priority.
So why doesn’t Iraq just do it then and move ahead. It is impossible for Iraq to reinstate the dinar, as it is not entirely under their control. It is one thing for them to want to do it and another to actual act and do the needed technical side of doing it. The mechanism for updating the currency exchanges with the IQD is under the control of the U.S. and IMF. Iraq cannot complete the process until the U.S. authorizes it go to through and then the IMF will take over and do it. Get it! I have said this maybe over a hundred times already. But there are also steps prior to the reinstatement that must occur. We all should know what they are by now. The CBI must initiate the currency swap out first. So, the plan, as I am told, is to conduct 1 more program rate change to around 1000, then to move around 1:1 by deleting 3 zeros. This part is under the control of the CBI and can happen at any time when they initiate it. Why don’t they initiate then?
They tried to do this next step many times and each time they shut it down because they could not get assurances from the US Treasury that they would proceed and do their part afterwards and follow through with the reinstatement, which must happen after the swap-out of currency in Iraq using the 1:1.
So just recently, I learned over the weekend that beginning last Wednesday the US Treasury was “pinging” the system to verify that all European and U.S. banks has the same rate for the IQD which was $3.81. This is nothing new and is part of the process and has also been done many times in the past. So, no great revelation or concern for us.
I was told the pinging was successful and a green light was given that all rates are consistent, but still needed the IMF to request that the US Treasury release it. On Saturday my CBI contact told me that this really did not mean much because it is the U.S. that still had not given the CBI assurances it will go through on a certain timeframe leaving them enough time to change the in-country rate, thus allow citizens to exchange any remaining necessary US dollars, if desired, and then do the swap-out with the 3 zero notes for the newer lower denominations.
My contact, who is on the committee to roll this out in Iraq, said they needed at least 2 weeks for Iraq’s part in the plan.
So, welcome everyone to December! Oh boy… we are getting very close……Here we are and we are in December 2023 already. Remember that January 2024 is just around the corner and is fast approaching with all the holidays ahead. As you may recall the CBI announced the end to the currency auctions and the end of the use of the dollar in Iraq as of January 2024. Beginning at this time, the US dollar will enter Iraq but no longer through the currency auctions and US Treasury drop deliveries of flown in pallets of $100 bills. This money is now debited from the CBI reserves. In 2024 it will come from the Iraqi banks themselves importing (which means to buy the dollar and other foreign currencies) from US banks and other banks directly. What so special about this move by the CBI?
This recent move is how the normal international finance world works and this was all music to me ears to hear it. Yes, no more “program rates, in-country” rates for the IQD once this all takes effect. Iraq is moving out of their sanctioned isolationism and freeing up their economy WOW! WOW! WOW! But I have to tell this is ALREADY happening as three banks in Iraq as they have already accepted U.S. Dollar imports outside of the usual channels as they had for the last 17 years. Seven more banks are scheduled for December. We can see they are slowly already rolling out this new CBI policy. What does this mean when the banks buy the dollars directly from other banks?
It means they are much stronger “stakeholders” in what happens to these dollars and how they are used. In other words, if they are stolen they lose not the CBI reserves. Will this help bring the parallel market even to the CBI official rate of the dinar? Personally, I don’t see why this effort should not work and is the solution the CBI has wanted all along but could not get since the US Treasury had been treating them as if still sanctioned. So this was a MAJOR change that occurred in the past couple weeks.
Through my study of international finance, I realize that Iraq will “best” need an international currency on the currency exchanges to continue getting the diversified imports of foreign currencies in currency swaps to pay for imports. Yes, they are no longer tied strictly to paying for imports with US dollars only and can now even accept foreign currency for payment of exports. This alone should make you jump up and down for joy! Also, don’t forget that we were told that Iraq will soon be announcing their full accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to which they will also “best” need an international currency.
I believe we are down to wire and as the days roll on, there is less and less slack in the schedule of the plan, as described to me by my CBI contact. I was told on Saturday there is a meeting to be held this week with the U.S., IMF and the World Bank to discuss this situation. I believe this may be the meeting necessary to give the CBI a “comfortable” level of assurance it needs.
What are some other HOT topics from Iraq?
Monday, the head of the Parliamentary Rights Bloc, Saud Al-Saadi, accused the United States of America of standing against the completion of the Belt and Road Initiative. I quote from the article – “There is an American desire not to complete the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative agreement with Iraq.” So, USA how abut you stepping up to the plate and helping Iraq prosper? Are you all done stealing the money now? Is it time to move on to bigger and better things for Iraq?
Another part of the goods today is an announcement that as part of financial and economic reforms, the Iraqi Cabinet has endorsed recommendations to conduct all state contracts within Iraq in Iraqi dinars. Of course, there will be some exceptions, but this is all what we need to hear at this point. So even though they have said they completed the de-dollarization process it is not cut and dry as they will continue to move on and hit other areas of concern where dollars can leak out.
Also, the economist, Nasser Al-Kinani, on Sunday, states the reasons that the United States of America continues to deposit the money for the sale of Iraqi oil in the US Federal Bank, is because these agreements have existed since the former regime and the first gulf war of 1991 in the food for oil program. Now the pressure is on to end this process and allow Iraq to manage its own oil revenues. We have heard about the desire to establish more sovereign funds to manage all these billions of surplus revenues. This is not the first article its kind we have read in recent times so we know this pressure is building and it is just a matter of time before this process ends. Will they also get off the petrol-dollar altogether? I quote from one of the two articles in the news this period – “The United States of America continues to dominate Iraq through political, security and economic agreements that Washington separates according to what serves its interests in the first place, as the US administration sought to circumvent political agreements in order to prevent the parties that are trying to rid the country of its influence over the Iraqi oil sale funds.”
Future Currency Swaps: Many questions have been raised since the Central Bank and the Iraqi government announced that they had concluded agreements with a number of banks and other countries to deal in local currencies in commercial exchange, but the most prominent question raised is what will be done or how will other countries, especially those that export large sums of money to Iraq annually, benefit from the Iraqi currency, the dinar. Yes, who would want the dinar at 1/6 of a penny? You get my point. Go read the entire article in the Articles Section below….Verrrrry interesting….
PARLIAMENTARY ACCUSATIONS AGAINST AMERICA OF STANDING AGAINST THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE: On Monday, the head of the Parliamentary Rights Bloc, Saud Al-Saadi, accused the United States of America of standing against the completion of the China Belt and Road Initiative. Well how about the US stepping up to help then. Oh..but like I said the US is only concerned about the oil and protecting its energy interests. The current administration could not give a damn about helping the people of Iraq.
Question: I heard that the rate at banks would be different from those at redemption centers. Is this true?
MarkZ: That is what we have been told. That the rates will be higher at redeeming banks/centers than if you just walked in off the streets.
Question: Where are those redeeming banks?
MarkZ: They will be all over. They could be right down the street from you. They are not going to give us redemption center locations until it is time to set appointments. For security reasons. It is a well guarded secret for now. Comment: I have seen photos of banks getting ready.
MarkZ: IMO they are clearly gearing up.
Iraq has...told us there will be no budget deficit in 2024. Next years budget starts Jan 1st. Without a revalued currency their deficit should be over $100 billion dollars…so the only way they cannot have a budget deficit is with a change of value in their currency …that is news worth reporting...And Iraq says they will be totally de-dollarized by Jan 1st. They are telling us what they are doing.
Question: How do we hold on to faith when everyday is a groundhog day?
MarkZ: The problem is we are trying to pick the timing of this historic event. We are looking at all the pieces and trying to guess the timing...You are watching it happen…all the greatest economic voices tell us it is coming…it is not a groundhog day even though we are not across the finish line yet.
Al-Sudani: Most of Iraq's challenges have economic roots
Shafaq News / Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani stated on Wednesday that most of the challenges and problems faced by Iraqi society have economic roots, stressing the importance of adhering to imposed fees and taxes without circumvention to support local products.
During the launch of the Tax System Reform Conference, Al-Sudani highlighted that the current Iraqi government's top priority within its year of existence has been economic reform.
He emphasized that this priority emerged from a realistic assessment of the problems and challenges confronting Iraqi society, with most stemming from economic origins.
Al-Sudani addressed tax reforms, acknowledging initial difficulties in their implementation, and noted that tax reforms under the government's approach send a "significant message" to local and foreign investors, companies, and international organizations, demonstrating the administration's commitment to revamp the business environment, reform systems and legislations.
The Prime Minister urged the conference to deliver recommendations aimed at eradicating the "extortion" perpetrated by "weak-minded" individuals, referring to those exploiting the system.
Additionally, Al-Sudani noted the disparity between recorded import data, stating that according to the Central Statistical Agency, imports totaled $16 billion, contrasting with the International Trade Center's data of $42 billion for 2022.
This discrepancy implies that approximately $26 billion evaded tax payments, resulting in significant financial revenue losses and adverse effects on various industrial, commercial, and agricultural sectors, hindering developmental projects, according to the Prime Minister.
Report... Currency Fluctuations In Iraq: The Role Of Private Banks In The Dollar Crisis
December 4, 2023 Last updated: December 4, 2023 The Independent / Report / - In light of the economic and political transformations, Iraq is witnessing significant fluctuations in the value of its currency and their effects on the national economy.
This report explores the role of private banks in settling the dollar crisis and its challenges.
The Iraqi dinar has witnessed continuous fluctuations in value against the US dollar, which raises concerns among citizens and affects various economic sectors.
This volatility is attributed to several factors, including political tensions and widespread corruption in financial and banking institutions.
The Dollar Crisis And Its Effects:
The dollar crisis is reflected in the increased demand for hard currency and the deterioration of the value of the Iraqi dinar.
Citizens and businesses suffer from difficulty obtaining dollars, which affects purchasing power and economic stability.
The Role Of Private Banks:
Private banks play a vital role in managing this crisis.
By offering foreign exchange services and providing options to deal with fluctuations, the banking sector plays a pivotal role in providing financial support to individuals and businesses.
Challenges For Private Banks:
Private banks face challenges in managing currency fluctuations, including increased demand for the dollar and the effects of the financial distress resulting from the crisis.
It requires them to adapt to these challenges and provide innovative solutions to meet customer needs.
The role of the government and oversight:
The importance of the government’s role is highlighted in strengthening oversight of financial markets and ensuring the stability of the national currency.
The authorities must take the necessary measures to stimulate investment and promote economic stability.
Solutions And Directions:
To overcome these challenges, the private banking sector must cooperate with the government to provide effective solutions.
This includes enhancing financial security, offering innovative investment options, and enhancing financial technology to facilitate transactions.
Currency fluctuations and the dollar crisis remain major challenges in Iraq,
but by coordinating the efforts of private banks and cooperating with the government, solutions can be provided that contribute to achieving economic stability that benefits citizens and companies alike.