From The Economist. Iraq's new prime minister vows to clean up the country The puzzle for Iraq's kleptocrats was always how to spirit their stolen billions out of the country. Foreign banks have been wary of accepting large transfers from Baghdad. Taking piles of cash out by land is risky; Kurds closely watch the frontier […]
By John Lee. The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Mustafa Ghaleb Mokhif, received the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski and her accompanying delegation on Monday. He reviewed the efforts of the CBI to support development through monetary policy tools and the direct impact of its initiatives on the real sector progress, […]
By John Lee. The European Union's Ambassador to Iraq has announced that Iraq has been removed from its list of countries deemed to carry a high risk of money laundering. Following a meeting with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Baghdad on Sunday, Ville Varjola tweeted: "Bringing the good news today to HE Prime Minister Mustafa […]
New program to help counteract serious financial crimes in Iraq The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Iraq, in partnership with the United States Government and the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq has launched a multi-year training initiative today, to strengthen and improve complex organized and financial crime investigations in Iraq. The training program, called […]
By John Lee. At a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi asked the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to remove Iraq from its list of countries considered to have a high risk of money laundering. Earlier this year, the United Kingdom removed Iraq from its list of […]
By John Lee. The United Kingdom has removed Iraq from the list of high-risk third countries for the purposes of money laundering legislation. The new listing -- "Schedule 3ZA" -- does not include Iraq. This schedule replaces the list in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 of 14th July 2016 by identifying high-risk third countries with […]
Foreign Minister Renews Call for European Commission to Remove Iraq from List of High-risk Countries in Terrorist Financing and Money Laundering Foreign Minister Mr. Fuad Hussein has met with Mr. Josep Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union, at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. Minister Fuad Hussein […]
Foreign Minister Calls on his German Counterpart to Support the Removal of Iraq from List of High-risk Countries in Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Iraqi Foreign Minister Mr. Fuad Hussein received a phone call from German Foreign Minister Mr. Heiko Maas. The two Ministers discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, and the prospects for […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Commission of Integrity has revealed that it has concluded cases resulting in fines of more than 245 billion dinars ($206 million) on private banks, due to violations relating to customs licences and foreign currency auction instructions for 2012. The CoI mentioned that one of these corruption cases related to a private […]
By Wassim Bassem for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The UN’s committee overseeing sanctions on the Islamic State and al-Qaeda has approved an Iraqi request to include Al-Kawthar Money Exchange and its owner Umar al-Kubaysi, as well as Salem Mustafa Mohammed al-Mansour, aka […]
By John Lee. Qatar and Iraq have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance security co-operation between the two countries. According to Gulf Times the MoU aims to enhancing security co-operation, co-ordination, and the exchange of information and expertise between the two sides. It covers almost all areas including terrorism and its finance, combating […]
By John Lee. The Islamic State group (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) has reportedly laundered its cash reserves by investing in legitimate businesses in Iraq and elsewhere. According to a report from The Economist, in Iraq it has used middlemen to buy farms, car-dealerships, hotels and hospitals. It adds that weak institutions and rampant corruption make […]
