Abu Dhabi: The UAE Central Bank issued orders to banks and financial institutions on Thursday afternoon to delist one Somali and 17 entities from the Al Qaida Sanction List.
The order was given after concluding its consideration of a request submitted through the Ombudsperson established pursuant to Security Council Resolution NO 1904 of 2009 and after considering the comprehensive report of the Ombudsperson, the Central Bank said in a statement.
“Therefore, the assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo set out in the Security Council Resolution 1904 of 2009 no longer applies to the names in the list,” the Central Bank clarified.
The Central Bank added that Ali Ahmad Nur Jim’ale remains subject to a travel ban, asset freeze and targeted arms embargo imposed by the Security Council Resolution No. 1844 of 2009, concerning Somalia adopted under the UN Charter.
Abdul Rahim Al Awadi , executive director of Anti-Money Laundering and Suspicions Cases Unit of the Central Bank of the UAE, said that the entities removed from the list were Al Baraka Exchange, which is based in Dubai, Barkat Telecommunications, based in Dubai, Bank of Somalia, based in Mogadishu and had branches in Dubai, Al Barakat, which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Al Barakat Bank which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Al Barakat Bank of Somalia, which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai and Al Barakat Finance Group, which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai.
The delisted entities also include Al Barakat Financial Holding Company, which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Al Barakat Global Telecommunication which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Al Barakat Group of Companies Somalia Limited, which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Al Barakat International, which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Al Barakt Investments which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Barakat of Companies, which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Barakat Red Sea Telecommunications which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, Barakat International Companies which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai, and Barakat Telecommunication Company Limited which is based in Mogadishu with branches in Dubai.
In recent years, the UAE has made increasing efforts to address money-laundering issues, for instance, by introducing legislation and procedures to identify and address money-laundering activities, and empowering authorities to supervise and, where appropriate, impose sanctions for money-laundering activities. There has also been a move towards multilateral coordination and cooperation on suspicious financial flows between the UAE and various countries.
