UAE authorities have extradited 899 criminals since 2020, of which 43 were involved in money-laundering crimes.
Ten of those were terrorists or were financing terrorist activities.
The UAE has issued fines of more than Dh115 million ($31.3 million) in the first quarter of the year in its fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
“The Ministry of Justice puts the issue of strengthening international co-operation in the field of combating financial crime and organised crime at the forefront of its priorities,” Judge Abdul Rahman Al Blooshi said in a press release last week.
Mr Al Blooshi said the ministry had been working with partners in the country, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and federal and local prosecutors to forge international agreements with countries around the world to tackle money laundering, terrorist financing, human trafficking, drug trafficking and organised crime.
These are serious crimes that the UAE has been committed to fighting from the onset
Judge Abdul Rahman Al Blooshi
These included 37 signed international agreements on Mutual Legal Assistance, 15 collective agreements and 10 regional agreements to combat money laundering and terrorist financing that have “resulted in making the UAE a successful model and a guarantor of the compliance of companies in various sectors” to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, he said.
Last Tuesday, the Ministry of Justice held its first conference on the role of Central Authorities in combating money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as the obstacles that may hinder legal and judicial co-operation.
Speaking to The National, Mr Al Blooshi said the UAE had a long-standing relationship with the international community to address such crimes.
“For us to have 32 countries present at this conference is a testament and a reaffirmation of our commitment to put a stop to money laundering,” he said.
“The UAE is regularly coming up with policies and strategies to detect these crimes and to prevent the transfer of funds that result in or finance criminal activities.
“These are serious crimes that the UAE has been committed to fighting from the onset.”
Since 2020, the UAE has been asked 3,061 times to help in either the extradition of criminals or for its assistance in thwarting criminal activities such as money laundering and terrorism financing.
In the first quarter of this year alone, the UAE issued fines of more than Dh115 million, a sharp increase from last year's Dh76 million.
During the three-day conference, recommendations were made to ensure these activities remained under control.
These included the importance of establishing direct communication channels between central authorities to enable the execution of legal and judicial requests.
The conference also highlighted the importance of bilateral treaties between countries and exchanging experiences among relevant stakeholders in the field of combating money laundering and terrorism financing.
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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