There was some concerted action going on in Manama this week against the peril of money laundering, as regional states met to hammer out strategy. The two-day plenary of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) was also being held in the organisation’s home-base country in recognition of the kingdom’s key role as a regional financial centre.
The Force came into being back in November 2004, after a meeting of governmental representatives from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
At that time, Abdulla Saif, the then-minister of finance and national economy, declared that the launching of MENAFATF showed the world “that we are serious about fighting the twin evils of money laundering and terrorist financing. It is especially important for Bahrain to have been chosen to host the [MENAFATF] Secretariat, as it is a vote of confidence in our financial market management and our regulatory competence and our ability to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.”
