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The works of the forum entitled “Targeted Financial Sanctions “Combating Terrorism Financing and Proliferation of weapons””, held by the Executive Office of the Committee for Goods and Material subjected to Import and Export Control; in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Executive Office for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing; have been launched this morning. The meeting was attended by delegations from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, experts from the United Nations Monitoring Team, relevant national authorities, the United States Mission, the Royal Institute for Studies in the United Kingdom, and private sector stakeholders- financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions registered or licensed with the regulatory authorities in the UAE. The event is to last for two days at Fazaa Pavilion-Expo 2020.

The forum aims at raising awareness among the participating bodies in respect to the standards of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the mechanisms for implementing targeted financial sanctions in accordance with Security Council resolutions on combating the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of arms. The event also emphasized the significance of international cooperation in the exchange of information, expertise and best practices, not to mention the importance of the national coordination between relevant government agencies in this regard.

For his part; in the forum opening speech; H.E. Talal Al-Teneiji, Director of the Executive Office of the Committee for Goods and Material subjected to Import and Export Control expressed his welcome to Dr. Jawhar Al Nafisi, President of the Financial Working Group for the Middle East and North Africa region at its current session, the experts and members from the GCC countries and relevant government agencies in the UAE, and the representatives from various financial institutions and Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBP), wishing everyone success in achieving the desired benefit from the sessions of the forum.

The gathering was attended by delegations from the GCC countries, experts from the United Nations Monitoring Group, national stakeholders, the United States Mission, the Royal Institute of Studies in the United Kingdom and representatives from private sector- Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBP) registered or licensed by oversight bodies in the UAE. The forum aims at raising awareness among the participating bodies in respect to the standards of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the mechanisms for implementing targeted financial sanctions in accordance with Security Council resolutions on combating the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of arms. The event also emphasized the significance of international cooperation in the exchange of information, expertise and best practices, not to mention the importance of the national coordination between relevant government agencies in this regard.

His Excellency Al-Teneiji stated that the Forum is the first of its kind organized by the Executive Office in view of its role as a national coordinator of targeted financial sanctions. It is part of a series of programs to support capacity-building and meet the needs of national actors in order to achieve compliance in the implementation of Security Council resolutions and “FATF” standards - especially those related to targeted financial sanctions, as well as sharing experiences and learning about developments and ways to combat the financing of terrorist groups including ISIS and al-Qaeda

His Excellency added that the UAE has sought over the past years to develop the necessary legislative frameworks to ensure that international requirements are met in the fight against terrorist financing and the application of targeted financial sanctions in order to protect the financial and banking systems from passing any operations that might be linked to terrorist activities or operations. The UAE has enacted a series of legislations, including the Federal Decree No. (20) of 2018 on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and financing of illegal organizations, which has established operational frameworks to combat money laundering and terrorist financing offences and adopted Security Council resolutions related to combating and financing terrorism, followed by Cabinet Resolution 20 of 2019, which was updated in 2020 with Resolution 74 on the terrorism list system and the implementation of Security Council resolutions on the prevention, suppression and financing of terrorism, the cessation of the spread of armaments and its financing and related resolutions. This included clarifying the roles of national actors and private sector to ensure the immediate freezing of funds and assets belonging to individuals and entities on the domestic terrorism list and the United Nations Security Council's consolidated sanctions list.

On his part, H.E. Rashid Al Mannai, Director of  Targeted Financial Sanctions Department at the Executive Office of the Committee for Goods and Material subjected to Import and Export Control noted that the partnership with the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the participation of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Working Group and representatives of the GCC countries is a valuable opportunity to benefit from the expertise and information to be shared and tackled during the form sessions. This ultimately aims at raising awareness about targeted financial sanctions and reducing the risks arising in terrorist financing and arms proliferation and the use of virtual assets in illegal acts, as well as the recognition of the approach adopted by the participating States in assessing the risks of financing the proliferation of weapons.