On EAG participation in the 35th MENAFATF Plenary meeting

The 35^th MENAFATF (Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force) Plenary meeting was held on November 24-25, 2022 in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco in a hybrid format. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Jawhar Al-Nafisi, MENAFATF president, and chairman of the Moroccan FIU. From 2023, the presidency of MENAFATF will pass to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and the representative of the Republic of Yemen will become Vice-President.

During the Plenary meeting changes in the Procedures for MENAFATF mutual evaluation and progress monitoring were discussed, the launch of a new typological project on research of ML/TF practices using legal persons and legal arrangements, plans for training activities and technical assistance projects were approved.

On the sidelines of the Plenary the Forum of experts on countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) was held. The experts exchanged views on the best practices of CFT, discussed the risks, methods, trends and challenges posed by TF, and outlined the importance of conducting parallel financial investigations to timely block access to illicit financial flows.

The Plenary was preceded by the meetings of the MENAFATF Working Groups, including the Mutual Evaluations Working Group, the Technical Assistance and Typologies Working Group, as well as the MENAFATF Member States Financial Intelligence Units Forum and the Risk Committee meeting. The Plenary listened to the reports of the working groups.

The 36th MENAFATF Plenary will be held in the second half of 2023 in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.

EAG Secretariat

MENAFATF press release