The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has moved forward with plans to establish federal prosecution entities specializing in economic crimes and money laundering.

A proposal by the UAE’s attorney general, announced by news agency WAM on Sunday, aims to develop the Middle East nation’s judicial system to “keep pace with global economic shifts” and further boost financial stability and economic growth.

Approved by the country’s Federal Judicial Council, the proposal is part of a project the Ministry of Justice is working on in conjunction with the FJC to improve professional and legal performance in the UAE.

The new entities would play a leading role in investigating and cracking down on various forms of economic crime and money laundering in the UAE, including corporate crimes, bankruptcy, regulation of competition, financial markets, intellectual property and trademarks violations, and customs evasion crimes, according to the press release.

In March 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added the UAE to its list of countries subject to increased monitoring due to deficiencies in fighting financial crime.

The FATF made seven recommendations for improvements for the UAE to implement, including demonstrating a sustained increase in effective investigations and prosecutions of money laundering.

Jeff Dale is Managing Editor, Editorial Projects and Analytics, at Compliance Week. He previously served as Compliance Week's Digital Editor and has worked as a copy editor at the Boston Herald and city editor at The Hour Publishing Co. in Norwalk, Conn.View full Profile

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