According to a Bloomberg News report, the UAE is at risk of being placed on the EU’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ‘grey list’ of countries for their failures in the fight against money laundering and anti-money laundering. of terrorism.
The UAE would join the most recent additions to the gray list that were decided by the FATF in June 2021 when Haiti, Malta, the Philippines and South Sudan became “jurisdictions under heightened scrutiny”.
Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plans to add the UAE to its “grey list” early this year. The decision would be very significant considering how the UAE has become a major financial center in the Middle East. FATF is expected to make a decision at a plenary meeting scheduled for late February. The United Arab Emirates submitted a report to the FATF in November, but sources told Bloomberg the country lacked the necessary criteria to stay off the gray list.
However, there remains the possibility for Emirati officials to make their case to the FATF, including during a planned trip to Paris in the coming weeks, they said.
