UAE AML/CTF Executive Office meets with Kazakh FMA

The meeting took place in Almaty on the sidelines of the 38th Plenary Session of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, a FATF-Style Regional Body.

Zhanat Elimanov, Chairman of the Financial Monitoring Agency of Kazakhstan, welcomed Hamid AlZaabi, Director-General of the UAE Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing, and an accompanying delegation of senior Emirati officials. Ali Faisal Ba'Alawi, Head of the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit; and Waleed Saeed Al Awadhi, Chief Operating Officer of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSC), were among the delegates who attended the meeting.

The parties from the EO AML/CTF and Kazakh FMA discussed a range of proposals for enhancing cooperation between the two countries. Members of the Kazakh team expressed their interest in the UAE's experience in implementing IT technologies based on artificial intelligence. They added that Kazakh authorities intend to explore UAE policies and best practices in order to more effectively identify illicit financial transactions, both domestically and internationally.

AlZaabi and Elimanov exchanged views on the importance of effective asset recovery and expressed their intention to initiate new joint activities in the field of virtual assets recovery. Both parties expressed a commitment to following up on the meeting in the hope that it would give a new impetus to the development and strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

The meeting also covered strategies for education, training, and the development of human capital in the fight against financial crime. Following a briefing by Emirati delegates on financial academies in the UAE, the Kazakh FMA expressed interest in enrolling its employees in the Dubai International Financial Centre Academy.

Elimanov wished the UAE authorities a successful hosting of the forthcoming Plenary Session of the Egmont Group, which will take place between 3rd and 7th July in Abu Dhabi, UAE.