Iraq is stepping up efforts to curb money laundering and terrorism financing.
Iraq’s parliament is expected to soon endorse a new law that aims to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, the government’s economic adviser said.
Mazhar Mohammad Saleh told TR Zawya that the draft law, which was approved by the cabinet in June, would be more inclusive than a 2004 law that was drawn up by the Coalition Provisional Authority. He said the new law would cover tax evasion, smuggling of antiquities and cash as well as corruption.
“The new law will draw additional policies, legislations and procedures to chase and trace money and smugglers through a national council,” Saleh said.
“It will also meet Iraq’s financial interest and open the way for the country to conduct economic activities at the international level,” he added. “Between 3-5% of Iraqi GDP has been lost due to smuggling during the past 10 years as a result of money laundering.”
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said in June that Iraq has not made sufficient progress to stem money laundering and terrorism financing. It said Baghdad needed to adequately criminalise such acts, establish a legal framework for identifying, tracing and freezing terrorist assets, establish effective customer due diligence measures and a financial intelligence unit, introduce suspicious transaction reporting requirements and put in place a supervisory and oversight program for all financial sectors.
