KUWAIT CITY, Oct 30, (KUNA): The Kuwait Banking Association (KBA) underlined the dedication of local banks in their efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism funding.
Assessing their performance on these measures, Secretary General Hamad Al-Hasawi told KUNA that “a report issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reveals no evidence of money laundering or terrorism funding in Kuwait.” Local banks are devoted to their role in tackling money laundering and terrorism funding on a professional scale, based on caution and wariness, which is far from any political or social motives, due to the sensitivity of the issue.
In the last five years, some 100 suspicious cases were referred to authorities by local banks, he said.
These banks all conform to international resolutions, local legislation and the instructions of the Central Bank of Kuwait,” he noted.
Explaining the role of banks in these situations, he said: “If a bank has worthy suspicions related to a client or a transaction, verified through in-depth investigation and a report identifying the client’s details and transactions, these are sent to authorities.” He said banks realise that suspicions not based on valid evidence insults the reputation of clientele and leads to a destabilization of the confidence in the bank, he added.

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KUWAIT CITY: A local bank, which has branches abroad including in Egypt, Lebanon and several other countries, has been instructed to monitor accounts in these countries and report any suspicious movement of money, reliable banking sources told Annahar daily.
This is part of measures being taken to control money laundering activities, said sources, adding the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) instructed the said bank to send the names and details of clients in whose accounts money was transferred suspiciously.
 Sources said some countries are not very strict in such matters and “hence it is better if we monitor the transfer of suspicious funds and notify the authorities in these countries.”