The speech of his Excellency Minister Of Interior

The Kingdom of Bahrain has been aware of the dangers of money laundering as a result of economic and financial activity internationally and locally. This activity has resulted in the appearance of illegal money which is trying to find new ways to gain legitimacy.

The Kingdom has initiated many steps to combat this menace. Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf to issue a special decree to check money laundering and terrorist financing. This became Law by Decree No. 4 for 2001, which laid down the legal principles and framework to ensure the disclosure of any suspicious financial activity.

The Kingdom has set up a committee to formulate the policies to ban and combat money-laundering and terrorist financing. It has representatives of the Ministry of Interior, other parties concerned as well as the Unit to Combat Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing, which follows the Ministry of Interior as it is considered to be the authorized specialized unit to implement the law.

The security strategies aim to consider all the challenges in the field by actively confronting the menace within the legal framework for which there is Law No. 54 for 2006, an amended version of Law by Decree No. 4 for 2001 regarding banning and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and transferring money across borders illegally.

This brings together all the necessary penalties to achieve the appropriate deterrents for these crimes. With the amendment the Kingdom has affirmed its commitment to international resolutions on combating terrorist financing, especially to the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 of September 20, 2001.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has been chosen to be the headquarters of the Middle East & North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF). As regards the Kingdom’s distinguished efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and its cooperation with the parties and organizations concerned, both at the international and regional fronts, there has been support for the sincere steps Bahrain has taken at the financial and economic levels as it is considered to be the centre of commercial investments and a major financial centre both internationally and regionally.