The other countries on the list are Albania, Barbados,
Burkina Faso, Cambodia,Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, Jordan, Mali, Malta.
Others are Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama,
Philippines, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda and Yemen.
The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force announced the
list on Friday.
“When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased
monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve swiftly the
identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to
increased monitoring. This list is often externally referred to as the “grey
list””
While not expected to dent business in the Emirates, the
listing could strike at the country’s carefully managed business-friendly
image.
Ratings agencies and other financial institutions also
consider such a listing as a risk, which can affect interest rates for loans.
While praising the UAE’s “significant progress,” the body
known as FATF said more needed to be done. Already, the UAE has established a
corporate registry and signed extradition agreements with other nations.
However, the UAE long has been known as a place where bags
of cash, diamonds, gold and other valuables can be moved into and through. In
recent years, the State Department had described “bulk cash smuggling” as “a
significant problem” in the Emirates.
A 2018 report by the Washington-based Center for Advanced
Defense Studies, relying on leaked Dubai property data, found that war
profiteers, terror financiers and drug traffickers sanctioned by the U.S. had
used the city-state’s boom-and-bust real estate market as a safe haven for
their money.
Emirati officials on Twitter and its state-run WAM news
agency rushed to reassure investors that the UAE remained a safe, regulated
place to do business and would address the international concerns.
“The UAE will continue its ongoing efforts to identify,
disrupt and punish criminals and illicit financial networks in line with FATF’s
findings and the UAE’s National Action Plan, as well as through close coordination
with our international partners,” the Emirates’ Executive Office of Anti-Money
Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism said.
Senior Emirati diplomat Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter that
the country had “made significant progress in combating financial crime.”
“Being a key economic hub, we remain resolute in
strengthening strategic cooperation with our partners to address this global
challenge,” he wrote.
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