Doha, October 05 (QNA) - Executive Secretary of the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Committee (NAMLC) Essa Al Hardan revealed that there has been progress in implementing the national strategy to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, which extends between 2020-2025.

On the sidelines of the workshop organized by the NAMLC and US Department of Justice under the title "Combating the illicit use of emerging virtual asset technology," which was attended by HE Ambassador of the United States of America to the State Timmy Davis and HE Head of Qatar Financial Information Unit (QFIU) Ahmad bin Eid Al-Thani, Al Hardan told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the NAMLC is continuing to implement the national strategy approved by HE Prime Minister.

Al Hardan pointed out the unlimited support provided by HE Governor of Qatar Central Bank Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani to work on spreading awareness, training, and qualifying Qatari cadres in the field of combating money laundering and terrorism financing, as NAMLC is an emanated committee from Qatar Central Bank. He added that NAMLC works on setting legislations and laws that limit the crimes in the field of money laundering and terrorism financing, in addition to implementing the strategy adopted by various authorities.

In his speech during the workshop, Executive Secretary of the NAMLC Essa Al Hardan said that the topic of the workshop is of great interest to the competent authorities in the State of Qatar, which have made great efforts over the past few years. In 2021, the NAMLC issued the first sectoral assessment of its kind on the risks of virtual asset service providers (VASPs.) and virtual assets.

He explained that the importance of the topic has increased over the past ten years after virtual and cryptocurrencies swept the global markets as Bitcoin exceeded USD 19,000 by the end of 2017. In 2021, the Bitcoin reached USD 69,000 to fall back in October 2022 to USD 20,000.

He said that these currencies managed to invade the global economy and attract investors, businessmen, and cross-boarder companies. In turn, these currencies fascinated criminal organizations and affected their criminal behavior in the digital world due to its attractive characteristics such as anonymity, ease of use, and the degree of security that the cryptocurrency infrastructure has reached.

Al Hardan indicated that these characteristics formed an incubating environment for criminals who used virtual assets as a refuge to hide their criminal revenues and an innovative way to commit their crimes, especially on the dark web, beyond the reach of law enforcement authorities.

He stressed that the workshop aims to enhance understanding of the risks of misuse of virtual assets in illicit financing and to take coordinated sustainable measures in close cooperation with all competent authorities including law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and the private sector. Thus, this type of workshop is extremely important to ensure financial security in the State of Qatar.

(QNA)