Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak: Combatting money laundering and terrorism financing Speech by H E Dr Fahad Bin Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and Chairman of Anti-Money Laundering Permanent Committee, to the 51th Plenary Meeting of Middle East & North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), Jeddah, 28 April 2012. *  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to welcome you in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It also gives me pleasure to meet you all in this important regional meeting which is the 51th Meeting of MENAFATF. The meeting encompasses many essential and important issues of common interest and ways that would, in turn, promote cooperation to better levels. All peoples count on the unique role played by your Task Force to protect countries of this region against repercussions of money laundering and financing terrorism crimes. I wish your meeting all success and wish you all a good stay in Jeddah. Dear Audience, Increasing attention has been paid to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing systems over the past years. This has been due to the great progress witnessed in financial and banking systems, diversity of communication means, simplicity of money movement and advanced payment systems. However, the speed factor in conducting commercial transactions, existence of indirect financial operations and unreal existence of dealers have led to great risks. Some of these risks are: potential abuse of these developments in performing illegal objectives.
There is no doubt that the updated recommendations will enhance the level and methods of protection of the economic system against such type of crimes threatening it. In conclusion, I would like to express my thanks and gratitude for your respected group for its achievements accomplished during its short life, wishing you continued success. I thank the organizers for their efforts. I also welcome you again in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I hope that your meetings in this session will be a success. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches