Kuwait strengthens anti-money laundering legislation
The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering watchdog, said in October that Kuwait's legal and supervisory framework had "serious shortcomings delivering effective outcomes", citing failures in addressing terrorist financing.
The FATF requested the establishment of a domestic process tasked with freezing terrorist assets and publishing a full list of individuals under targeted financial sanctions (TFS).
Under a decree issued on Monday, a government committee can now be delegated powers to implement resolutions aimed at combating terrorism, its financing and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, with immediate effect. These were previously reserved for the cabinet.
It also set fines of up to 500,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($1.64 million) for violations.
Finance Minister Nora Al-Fassam said in a statement that the amendments would help Kuwait improve transparency and meet international standards.
The government has also introduced the requirement for companies to identify the "beneficial owner", who exercises ultimate control over the firm, and transferred supervision of exchange houses activities from the commerce ministry to the central bank.
Kuwait's new law grants the government direct authority to freeze funds and assets suspected of links to money laundering or terrorism financing without a court order, lawyer Fawaz Al-Khatib told Reuters, adding the amendment "brings Kuwait closer to FATF international standards."
In the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates, home to financial centres such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, was dropped from the FATF's so-called "grey list" of countries at risk of illicit money flows in February 2024 after a little less than two years.
(Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy, editing by Federico Maccioni and Rachna Uppal)
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