Financial Crime World

Title: Qatar’s Progress in Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing: A Mixed Report Card from FATF-MENAFATF

Recognition of Qatar’s Efforts, but Room for Improvement

Paris, May 31, 2023 - In its latest evaluation report, The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and its Middle East and North Africa region affiliate (FATF-MENAFATQ), commended Qatar for its significant strides in tackling money laundering and terrorism financing. However, there is a need for substantial improvements in Qatar’s criminal justice response to terrorist financing.

Vulnerabilities and Risks

  • Despite low domestic crime rates and being an oil-rich nation, Qatar faces money laundering risks from smuggling, fraud, drug crimes, and corruption.
  • Qatar faces notable terrorist financing risks due to its citizens being targets for fundraising both domestically and abroad.

Commendable Achievements

  • Qatar has a thorough understanding of money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
  • The country has adopted a risk-based approach for assessing and supervising financial and non-financial sectors.
  • Qatar is making improvements in collecting beneficial ownership information for its unified register.

Areas Requiring Enhancements

  • Stronger controls are needed to ensure the accuracy and up-to-date nature of collected information.
  • Qatar’s financial intelligence unit requires utilizing its sophisticated analysis capabilities to their fullest extent.
  • Qatar needs to enhance its investigative capacities to identify its potential role in complex money laundering schemes.

Criminal Justice Response to Terrorist Financing

  • Few terrorist financing convictions and prosecutions have been secured by Qatari authorities.
  • Striking inconsistencies exist between Qatar’s risk profile and the type and extent of terrorist financing activity that has been prosecuted and convicted.

Asset Seizure and International Cooperation

  • Qatar has proven adept at seizure of large sums, including proceeds of crime and property of equivalent value.
  • The country places a priority on international cooperation but must make further progress to strengthen its overall system for mutual legal assistance and extradition.

Financial Sanctions Implementation

  • Qatar has a robust framework for implementing targeted financial sanctions related to terrorist financing.
  • The FATF-MENAFATF evaluation recommended allocating additional resources to tackle the implementation of proliferation financing sanctions.