ABU DHABI/LONDON, 7th April, 2022 (WAM) — As part of the historic partnership between the UAE and the UK to combat illicit financial flows, the UAE and the UK have continued to advance their joint efforts to target money laundering and serious and organized crime while improving understanding of mutual threats and risks of illicit financing.

Authorities from the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom met for a series of technical workshops in March 2022 in Abu Dhabi and London to share information on issues of common interest and to enable participants to better understand the risks , threats and typologies of illicit financing.

Experts from the UAE and the UK discussed a range of key topics, including understanding money laundering threats and vulnerabilities in the UAE and the UK, detecting serious criminal groups and organized involved in money laundering and countering high-risk and complex illicit finance methodologies. In addition, the two sides discussed tackling emerging illicit finance trends such as schemes involving virtual assets, Financial Intelligence Unit priorities, responsibilities and best practices, public-private partnerships. and private sector awareness and law enforcement approaches to illicit finance.

Directors of work streams under the partnership from the UAE side, Mohamed Shalo from the Executive Office for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing; and Huda Belhoul of the Federal Authority for Immigration, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security said, “The UAE continues to take strong and effective action against illicit financing. The workshops held as part of of the UAE-UK partnership to combat illicit financial flows are emblematic of the two countries’ collaborative efforts to protect the financial system and disrupt terrorists, money launderers and organized crime groups.We are grateful to the UK authorities who participated in the joint workshops and are committed to advancing our common priorities to tackle this global problem.

Rob Jones, Chief Executive of the National Economic Crime Centre, and Simon York, Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service and UK and UAE champion in tackling illicit finance, said: ” The UK has committed to working more closely with the UAE to tackle illicit finance under the Partnership signed by the Home Secretary and Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of State, in September 2021 to deliver joint operational successes These workshops held in Abu Dhabi and London enabled the two countries to work together to better understand the threats we face and agree on joint actions to target money launderers who enable the worst forms of crime We appreciate the authorities in the United Arab Emirates who worked collaboratively to make these workshops a success and we look forward to the next phase of the partnership.

The UAE-UK Partnership to Combat Illicit Financial Flows was launched in September 2021 as part of the new ambitious and enhanced partnership for the future between the UK and the UAE, announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin. Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. The partnership is co-chaired by Ahmed Al Sayegh and the Right Honorable Priti Patel, UK Home Secretary.

The UAE-UK partnership is a concrete articulation of the joint ambition of the UAE and the UK to increase cooperation on illicit financial flows. It provides a solid platform to build a stronger and more enduring strategic partnership, advancing the priorities set out in the UK’s Integrated Review and the UAE National Strategy on Anti-Money Laundering and the financing of terrorism.