A close working partnership between UK and UAE law enforcement and banks is critical to shutting off the supply of illicit finances, UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis has told The National.
The countries have joined forces to target the financial infrastructure of organised crime through the Combined Anti-Money Laundering Operational Team (Camlot), an initiative designed to tackle illegal laundering operations and identify hidden financial networks tied to crime.
Mr Jarvis attended meetings with Dubai Police during his first visit as Secretary of State for Security last week and told The National that clamping down on illicit finance was a priority of the UK government.
“The UK hugely values the relationship we have with the UAE,” he said. “As a relatively new government, we've got a lot to learn from this country. We already have a close working relationship with senior ministers in the government and I've had a very constructive meeting with the head of Dubai Police.
"Given the importance of the country to the UK and the number of Britons here at any one moment, it's very important we nurture and invest in that relationship to build on the work we've done previously, not least in terms of matters relating to illicit finance.”
Global cost
Although difficult to assess, the UN Office in Drugs and Crime estimates between 2 per cent and 5 per cent of global GDP is laundered each year, or about $742 billion and $1.8 trillion.
An illicit finance partnership between the UK and UAE was established in 2021. Camlot, a key operational component of this partnership, began in January 2024. Since then, relations have strengthened to address illicit financial flows between the two global financial centres of London and Dubai.
The Camlot initiative includes UK representation from the National Crime Agency (NCA), the National Economic Crime Centre, and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Meanwhile, UAE representation is led by the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) with support from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other UAE authorities. During his visit, the Security Minister highlighted the importance of Camlot and the excellent work of the UAE FIU.
“Dubai and London are both international centres of finance, so it is collectively in our interest and the wider international community’s interest to target activities such as money laundering,” Mr Jarvis said. “This is quite technical, detailed work, but the success of it depends on co-operation and on that close working partnership.
"With colleagues in the NCA, we're looking to forge those relationships even more closely than has been the case previously. That is the right way to proceed and that's a real priority for the government. There's a really important role for the private sector. We work very closely with financial industries and there is a strong willingness from the banks to work with us, that is a very important relationship. Partnership arrangements between law enforcement and the private sector are absolutely critical.”
Judicial co-operation
Last year, the UAE was removed from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force, an international organisation that monitors the enforcement of money-laundering regulations.
It was added to that list in 2022 as the Emirates was considered to have deficiencies in the way it tracked the flow of money coming into the country.
The latest meetings between Mr Jarvis and Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of State, marked a significant step forward in the UK and UAE’s continuing efforts to tackle illicit finance.
Both agreed to increase judicial co-operation and ensure the continuous alignment in their approach to illicit finance.
“By its very nature, the movement of money, money laundering and illicit finance is a complicated activity,” said Mr Jarvis. “You will only really seek to address it and bring the perpetrators to account if there is an international approach," he said.
"It is an international challenge, so it's that close working partnership we've been discussing with ministers which practically means very close working relations with our National Crime Agency, to work alongside the banks and with colleagues here in country to look specifically at the details of cases about which they are concerned.
"Dubai is a wonderful place to visit, it’s a great place to do business, but it's in all of our interests to make sure that people don’t think of either Dubai or London as being a place that they can get away with illegal money laundering or illicit finance activity.”
