ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—All financial institutions in this country must now report any suspicious transactions through “goAML” a newly United Nations-developed anti-money laundering platform, the Central Bank of the UAE announced.
The launch of the platform at the Central Bank’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi makes the UAE the first country in the Gulf region to go live with the system developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It aims to step up intelligence, identify complex, organized criminal activities and curb them, Banking Exchange reported.
“We are proud to be the first country in the GCC to go live with goAML. Our objective has always been to provide support for UAE’s financial institutions in line with global standards,” said Mubarak Rashed Al Mansouri, governor of Central Bank of UAE, and chairperson of National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism and Illegal Organizations Committee. “The platform will act as an integral part of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) by elevating its IT infrastructure, strengthening a countrywide cooperation against criminal activity. This will also help us better observe trends when analyzing suspicious transaction reports, helping eliminate potential threats at more efficient rates.”
‘Strategic Response’ to Crime
“The UNODC works in partnership with the National Anti-Money Laundering Committee and alongside several government entities, including the FIU, to aid in the development of essential programs such as the goAML,” said Judge Hatem Fouad Ali, regional representative of UNODC.
The platform was developed by UNODC as a strategic response against financial crime, as advised by the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. “It is a one-stop, fully integrated solution that meets the IT needs of most FIUs, with the primary objective of enhancing the capacity of member states to detect financial crime and to meet international standards relating to money laundering and terrorist financing,” Ali said.