Private Banks Investigated for Money Laundering

To solve this major issue, Souri urges the Central Bank to adopt a comprehensive, technological banking system, which guarantees real-time control of funds and simultaneous access to information, in both the public and private banking sector.

Gavin Wishart, CEO of the British Standard Chartered Bank, which opened a branch in Iraq around the end of 2003, told Ayn al-Iraq News on Aug. 21 that Iraqi banks were poorly managed and in urgent need of international experience in this field, and to rely on international standards and specifications.

Audit expert Awatef Mohsen told Al-Monitor that the financial control of the private banking sector was not currently feasible, describing it as “timid.” She also stressed the need for an intervention from the government, since the private banking sector was a closed sector that was managed like a family business, and was a major loophole for financial corruption.

Mohsen believes that the solution lies in the formation of a joint committee between the Board of Supreme Audit, the Central Bank and private banks, to have real-time audits. In this context, she supported Saleh’s suggestion to adopt better corporate governance as a way to reduce the private banking sector problems.

(Money laundering image via Shutterstock)