Following the sitting, Shoura Council Secretary-General Muhammed Al-Ghamdi said the approval clearly indicated the commitment of the Kingdom toward combating money laundering.
Al-Ghamdi recalled earlier that Shoura Council members had detailed consultations with senior officials of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to get more information about its regulations against money laundering.
Last year in March, Justice Minister Mohammad Al-Essa issued a decision stipulating the establishment of a department to combat money laundering and terror financing.
The creation of the new department came within the framework of the activation of the ministry’s role for the execution of a money laundering act issued nine years ago.
The decision coincided with the release of an international report placing Saudi Arabia in an advanced ranking among the G20 countries in terms of fighting money laundering and terror financing. The decision outlined the role of the new department in fighting all acts related to money laundering and terror financing.
The Kingdom was awarded the ranking according to a report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body based at the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. The report placed Saudi Arabia first in the Arab world and among the top 10 within the G20.
The rankings were awarded at a FATF plenary meeting in Amsterdam, which took place in June 2010 and were based on a report by the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force.
At the beginning of yesterday’s session, Al-Asheikh thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, for their support to the Third G20 Speakers’ Consultation Meeting that ended Sunday.
The two-day conference, which was sponsored by the Shoura Council, was attended by representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the European Parliament.
Besides the G20 countries, some Arab, Islamic and friendly countries and international bodies also took part as guests at the summit. They included the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, Spain, Hungary, Kazakhstan and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
A set of 13 resolutions were moved unanimously at the meeting on sustainable economic growth for a secure world.
On behalf of the Shoura Council, Al-Asheikh thanked the foreign participants and the government and nongovernmental agencies in the Kingdom that extended their cooperation to make the event a grand success.
