Dr. Hashim Al Sayed (4th left), Chairman of QCPA, with other officials and speakers during the conference at the Ritz Carlton Doha, yesterday. PIC: Rajan Vadakkemuriil
Doha: Qatar’s financial sector is well under control and various measures have been put in place to combat financial crimes (FinCrimes) and prevent them from proliferating in the country amidst various global crises and even as more than 1.5 million visitors are expected to descend here during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, an official said yesterday.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of ‘The Effective Financial Crime Compliance Conference’ organised by the Qatar Association of Certified Public Accountants (QCPA), Dr. Hashim Al Sayed, Chairman of QCPA reiterated that Qatar is among the leading countries globally with strong policies against fraud and corruption.
“In Qatar, we have a lot of rules, procedures, and a lot of focus on fighting financial crimes. We’re a very strong country in fraud control. We ranked 31st out of 180 countries globally, and a leading country in the Arab world in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index,” he added.
According to experts, hosting the FIFA World Cup attracts not just the investors, but the money launderers and financial criminals as well. However, Al Sayed was quick to add: “We have control over that. Today, the country is under control. Nobody can come if you don’t have the Hayya card. A lot of things have been prepared to control that. Also, a month before, visitors to Qatar cannot carry more than QR50,000 worth of currencies (or should disclose it)”.
Globally, the volume of financial crimes of all kinds reach $7 trillion, said Al Sayed. He added: “If the size of the US economy is $23 trillion and China is $17 trillion, the volume of financial crimes of all kinds amount to $7 trillion, exceeding the size of Japan’s economy, which is estimated at $6 trillion. Thus, it represents about 7.4 percent of global output. Financial crimes range from extortion, forgery, personal fraud, financial breaches, fake accounts, corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, and hot money entering the markets”.
Earlier during his speech at the opening ceremony, Al Sayed reiterated that Qatar has developed a national strategy to combat financial crimes. He said: “The strategy is witnessing full cooperation between all law enforcement agencies to protect the economy and society from this type of crime. This strategy is based on raising awareness and applying due diligence in combating crime, adopting financial technology innovations, developing the best legislative practices for an integrated system, issuing instructions and supervisory controls, establishing supervisory entities, and joining membership of international institutions in addition to signing international agreements that reinforce Qatar’s commitment to combat fraud, making it an effective model in this field”.
Al Sayed added: “Also, with the hosting of the World Cup and the entry of large numbers of visitors, the QCPA believes in its social responsibility and the need to increase societal awareness in the face of crime. Combating financial and banking crimes requires cooperation and partnership at all local, regional and international levels. Compliance represents the backbone of the financial sector amid financial crises and economic fluctuations the world is going through”.
Also speaking during the event, Chief Financial Crime Compliance & Governance at QNB Group Riadh Al Fayech discussed the impact and implications of financial crime on financial institutions and the ongoing battle faced by Compliance Officers in tackling money laundering, fraud, and cyber-crime. He also highlighted the roles of data, technology and collaboration in fighting financial crimes. Al Fayech said: “If we have a quick look to the penalties imposed on financial institutions worldwide over the past 10 years, we can see that not only financial impact was disastrous, but also investments in terms of time and money required to recover and rebuild reputation and trust are extremely huge for both the financial institution and the country.
“Over the past 30 months, financial crime, especially fraud and cyber-crime, have continued to proliferate, particularly due to the unprecedented challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the same technology being abused for illicit purposes is offering a wide range of automated solutions to combat financial crimes. New technologies have the potential to make anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing measures (CFT) faster, cheaper and more effective. They can improve the implementation of FATF Standards to advance global AML/CFT efforts and ensure financial inclusion,” he added.
The conference, which was organised in partnership with the Global Compliance Institute and Qatar Financial Markets Authority, also featured other speakers who discussed various topics related to preventing money laundering, illicit gold flow, global AML initiatives, fintech in AML, governance and anti-corruption, and legal instruments to combat FinCrimes.
