A global financial crime watchdog said today Qatar’s technical compliance with its standards was strong but the Gulf state needed to make improvements in its fight against money laundering, terrorism financing and other areas, Reuters reported.
Qatar did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statement from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The watchdog said Qatar needed to make it easier to get information on the ultimate ownership of companies and also needed to strengthen measures to stop any financing of weapons of mass destruction.
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It added that it would follow up its statement with a full report on Qatar by May.
“Qatar needs to make important improvements in certain areas, including in its law enforcement response to money laundering and terrorism financing in particular and its use of financial intelligence,” added the inter-governmental body which monitors governments’ efforts in these areas.
The FATF included Qatar’s Gulf neighbour the United Arab Emirates on its “grey list” in March 2022, meaning that country is subject to increased monitoring.
At the time, the UAE government said it had a “strong commitment” to working closely with FATF on areas for improvement.
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