In a
workshop organized by Aman in Ramallah on June 16th 2008,
on "Assessment of the Palestinian experience in combating money
laundering", participants called to expedite the ratification of the
formation of a National Anti Money Laundering Committee in the
Palestinian Territories to take a role against this disturbing
phenomenon. Participants stressed the importance of integration and
coordination between the public sector and the private sector
organizations to address such economic crimes.
This workshop, attended by
representatives of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, the Capital
Market Authority, banks, economic institutions and some economists
and law experts, was conducted within the growing international and
domestic awareness of the risks associated with money laundering,
which is connected to a high extent to the existence of corruption.
It is worthy of mentioning that Aman took
an initiative to prepare a report on the Palestinian experience in
combating money laundering in the light of the Palestinian National
Authority's adoption of the Anti-Money Laundering Act on October 25th,
2007. the General Commissioner for Anti-Corruption Affairs-
Aman, Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, said that the
workshop comes within the continuing review of the Palestinian
reality and as an assessment of the Palestinian experience in this
field, especially with what is being said about the lack of the
Palestinian expertise in this area and the Palestinian experience in
general, as well as the significance of the Palestinian situation.
Mr. Shuaibi mentioned that the report Aman prepared can be used for
the review and assessment purpose. Many comments were raised on the
report as a research paper and a background for discussion, where
Mr. Shuaibi said that there is a need to raise a number of questions
about the law measures against money laundering and to what extent
this law addresses the subject of money laundering and the role of
official and economic institutions in combating this phenomenon.
Also, it was stressed on the need to develop skills and prepare
trained cadres to detect money laundering, along with legal actions
taken against those involved in this kind of crimes.
The Executive Director of Aman, Ms. Ghada
Az-Zghayyer confirmed the importance of holding this workshop within
Aman's efforts in the collection and analysis of information on
corruption, its causes and its effects on the Palestinian society.
Ms. az-Zghayyer referred to the link between the crimes of money
laundering generated by corruption, illegal income generation,
smuggling and counterfeiting, and evasion of payment of taxes and
customs. Moreover, she pointed out
that the workshop aimed to raise a set of issues associated with
such crimes as corruption does not end with the criminal act, but it
goes beyond that to include laundering money generated from this
kind of crime.
Ms. Sahar Qawasmi, a PLC member, stressed
on the seriousness of this phenomenon on the stability of the
Palestinian economic situation, pointing out that the application of
the anti-money laundering law is very important to protect the
national economy, especially in the presence of indicators of the
possibility of Israeli gangs' involvement in the crimes of money
laundering
From his side, the representative of the
Palestinian Monetary Authority, Mr. Riyad Awaida, pointed out the
importance of expanding the follow-up on such crimes to others and
not limiting it to banks only. He said that work in this area should
be expanded to include money changers, in addition to the need to
involve other related sectors and organizations which can play an
essential role in confronting this phenomenon. Mr. Awaida also
emphasized that the Monetary Authority is still waiting for the
National Anti Money Laundering Committee to assume its tasks, after
the approval and ratification of President Mahmoud Abbas.
From
his side, the Director General of the Palestinian Capital Market,
Dr. Atef Alawneh, stressed the importance of the compliance to the
international standards in all economic fields. This compliance
includes standards and laws related to combating money laundering in
the Palestinian territories. He also stressed the importance of
verifying information and not participating in the dissemination of
inaccurate information that may create confusion in the Palestinian
society.
Many participants raised many issues
associated with the importance of integration and cooperation
between all public sector organizations and private sectors ones in
implementing the anti-money laundering law, developing the
Palestinian regulations and laws which in turn will contribute to
the eliminations of risks of the spread of this phenomenon. Also it
was emphasized on the importance of activating the role of the
judiciary and developing penalty-related legislations and
regulations that are applied on the ones involved in such crimes.
