Jordan develops comprehensive plan to combat money laundering, terror financing — gov’t

AMMAN — Head of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Unit Samia Abu Sharif on Thursday said that Jordan has developed a comprehensive national plan to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

FATF’s plan is implemented by 20 supervisory units to strengthen anti-money laundering and combat terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The FATF announced on Thursday the inclusion of the Kingdom on the list of countries subject to increased follow-up, known as the "greylisting".

Implementing the two-year plan can be ceased provided that all terms of the plan are fulfilled.

Jordan was included on FATF’s list according to the FATF MENA evaluation results of 2019. 

Abu Sharif said that specialised committees were formed to follow up on the implementation, highlighting that a number of reform steps were taken, the most important of which is the completion of a national assessment of the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing and the strengthening of measures taken by the unit as well as supervisory authorities.

A draft law to combat money laundering and terrorist financing was presented to the government at the beginning of 2020, and the draft law was approved by the government and sent to the Lower House in March 2020, she said. 

Given the circumstances that the Kingdom has experienced as a result of the pandemic, the issuance of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Law was delayed until September 2021, Abu Sharif noted.

She stressed the need to work in the coming period to materialise the plan, especially with regard to ensuring the commitment of the new sectors included in the new law, enhancing transparency in some areas related to the information of legal persons and beneficiaries, supporting prosecution of money laundering, and bolstering the commitment to the UN Security Council resolutions related to terrorism, its financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Law, which came into force in mid-September in 2021, addresses many legislative shortcomings, as it is in line with international standards in the field of combating money laundering, terrorist financing and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, according to Petra.

The FATF is an intergovernmental body that undertakes the task of studying techniques and trends of money laundering and terrorist financing and preparing and developing policies related to combating them locally and internationally.

Since its founding in Paris in 1989, the FATF has channelled its efforts towards adopting and implementing measures aimed to counter the exploitation of the financial system by criminals.