EU, Jordan consolidate partnership on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing

AMMAN — The EU Global Facility on Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) on Saturday concluded a four-day scoping mission to Jordan, where they met with representatives from key governmental institutions and entities working in the field of AML/CFT.

Co-organised with the AML/CFT Unit (AMLU Jordan), the visit was part of the Global Facility’s ongoing technical assistance to Jordan, which started in November 2020 and targets all Jordanian AML/CFT competent authorities, according to a statement made available to The Jordan Times.

As of June 2021, 13 one-week e-training courses have been delivered to some 214 participants, covering topics such as AML/CFT investigations, terrorist financing, financial intelligence, virtual assets, Financial Intelligence Unit operational analysis work stream, Ultimate Beneficial Ownership and the judiciary.

“This is just the start of a strong and long-lasting collaboration. Considering what we have managed to do during the difficult times of COVID-19, there is a very promising future for our partnership,” said David Hotte, team leader of the EU GF-AML/CFT during his opening speech.

“Now that on-site activities can resume, we are confident this joint cooperation will be taken to a whole new level,” Hotte said.

Stressing the importance of the “collaborative” nature of the technical assistance delivered by the EU Global Facility, Hotte noted: “The motto of our action is cooperation. Our work is not done through a top-down approach. It is the result of long exchanges with local partners, whereby we discuss, adapt and learn from the country we work with."

Chief of the AMLU Jordan Samya Abu Sharif stressed the significance of sustaining the enhancement of the AML/CFT regime in Jordan and ensuring compliance with international standards. 

“Promoting this cooperation with the EU GF-AML/CFT and conducting training courses and programme activities will certainly positively reflect on the development of our AML/CFT regime,” Abu Sharif said.

Last month, Jordan's Lower House approved a new draft AML/CFT law. This came as a direct response to the 2019 Mutual Evaluation Report on the implementation of AML/CFT standards where Jordan was deemed “compliant for four and largely compliant for 15 of the FATF 40 Recommendations”,  the statement said.

Established in 2017 by the European Commission, the EU GF-AML/CFT aims to support third countries in their efforts to prevent money laundering and cut off access to funding for individual terrorists and terrorist organisations, according to the statement.

Financed by the Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), the project is implemented by Expertise France, in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and the Northern Ireland Cooperation Overseas, concluded the statement.