Provide info on money laundering, says Kuwait

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 12: Kuwait had received 22 requests for the availability and exchange of information related to combating money laundering and terrorism financing from 17 countries in 2017, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to official statistics, the 17 countries that requested information from Kuwait are the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, the US, Italy, the UK, Belgium, Turkey, Czech Republic, Russia, Zimbabwe and Slovenia. Statistics also revealed that Kuwaiti Financial Intelligence Unit (KwFIU) had sent 8 requests to 5 countries – Hong Kong, Switzerland, Turkey, Egypt and the UAE – to provide information as part of its investigation of information related to money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Kuwait, on the other hand, provided information twice to Morocco, and provided information 9 times to the British Isle of Man, France, Jersey Island, America, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the official data, the KwFIU received 1,036 complaints of allegations of money laundering and terrorism financing offenses, 565 of which were received by the Unit from banks, 407 notices from exchange companies, 56 notifications from real estate agents, 6 brokerage firms and one investment company, and another from the trader of precious metals and precious stones.

On annual basis, the number of notifications received by the Unit during 2017/2018 increased by 40 percent to 1,036 compared to 740 in 2015-2016, while it increased by 11.6 percent compared to 2016/2017 with 928 notifications.

The number of cases reported to the Public Prosecution or referral to the competent authorities was 110, while 38 cases were referred to the Public Prosecution, and 72 cases referred to the competent authorities.

This is part of the Unit’s ability to obtain any information, data or documents it deems necessary for the performance of its functions by the competent authorities, the notifying parties and the counterpart units, while the request for information is to enhance the information received from the notifying parties and to enable them to reach decision.

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