Money laundering and terror financing:
Brussels threatens United Arab Emirates (UAE) with blacklist - Think tank sees emirates as attractive destination for 'dirty money'

Brussels / Dubai, February 1, 2021 - The European Commission said it will place the United Arab Emirates on the EU's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing list if it has not made significant progress in the fight against money laundering and terror financing by June 2021. Currently, the UAE is in a probationary period after the European Financial Action Task Force (FATF) identified several shortcomings.

The European Commission has answered to a parliamentary question of MEP Fulvio Martusciello (Italy). He had put the question to the European Commission after reading the recent report of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, one of the most important and prestigious think tanks in the world, which also mentions Dubai as a "conducive place to operate for European money launderers."

That report examined "Dubai's Role in Facilitating Corruption and Global Illicit Financial Flows." The foundation's authors came to a devastating conclusion for the European Union's major trading partner. They castigated the United Arab Emirates as an "attractive destination" for dirty money:

"While the vast majority of financial, business, and real estate transactions in Dubai are not associated with illegal activity, part of what underpins Dubai's prosperity is a steady stream of illicit proceeds borne from corruption and crime." And: "Corrupt and criminal actors from around the world operate through or from Dubai. Afghan warlords, Russian mobsters, Nigerian kleptocrats, European money launderers, Iranian sanctions-busters, and East African gold smugglers, all find Dubai a conducive place to operate."

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