A delegation from the United Arab Emirates participated in a multilateral meeting to discuss the establishment of an integrated asset recovery inter-agency network (ARIN), hosted by Egypt’s Money Laundering Combating Unit (MLCU) and held in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt from 29th to 30th April.

The meeting was organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in partnership with the Financial Action Task Force for the Middle East and North Africa (MENAFATF) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), to discuss the establishment of an asset recovery inter-agency network in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA-ARIN).

The UAE delegation was headed by Hamid AlZaabi, Director General of the Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (EO AML/CTF), and included representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Public Prosecution and the Public Prosecution of the Emirate of Dubai.

The meeting discussed a proposal for the establishment of an asset recovery inter-agency network regional network with the objective of enhancing international cooperation on issues related to the confiscation of illicit proceeds. 8 ARINs globally cover Western Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, the Caribbean, Eastern Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Central Africa. Such a network has not yet been established in the Middle East and North Africa region, which may negatively impact asset recovery and international compliance standards in this regard.

Hamid AlZaabi gave a keynote speech in which he referred to the UAE support for the initiative and its importance in light of the efforts made by the United Arab Emirates combatting the crimes and risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

He said, “The UAE has made the confiscation of illicit assets a strategic priority, with several competent authorities working hand in hand to confiscate the ill-gotten gains of criminal activities. The government has put in place measures that allow the identification, tracking, and evaluation of property subject to confiscation, through the powers granted to authorities in accordance with the laws and legislation of the state. This is an important part of the UAE’s comabting of money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF) since the recovery of illicit assets helps deter financial criminal activity by turning it into a higher-risk, lower-reward activity. Due to the global nature of financial crime, asset recovery is a strategic issue that is both domestic and international in scope, meaning that the creation of a regional network will be of considerable value to the UAE and its partners in this field”.

The meeting approved the state’s proposal regarding the formation of the founding team and the work mechanisms related to establishing the network and its procedures.

The meeting brought together more than 60 representatives from MENAFATF countries, in addition to representatives from the UNODC, GIZ and a number of other regional networks for asset recovery in America, Europe and Africa.

The UAE is one of the leading countries in the world for asset recovery as a percentage of estimated total financial crime. In the period December 2021 to June 2023, law enforcement agencies in the UAE opened 583 cases generating the conviction of 1,898 subjects (1,501 natural persons and 397 legal persons), and the confiscation of approximately AED5.4 billion (US$1.4 billion).