UAE announces special body to tackle economic crimes, money laundering

The UAE Federal Judicial Council on Sunday, approved the proposal put forth by the Attorney General to establish specialised federal prosecution entities focusing on economic crimes and money laundering.

The creation of prosecution offices specialised in financial crimes is a part of the transformative projects (government accelerators) on which the Ministry of Justice is currently working in coordination with the Federal Judicial Council to improve the professional and legal performance in the UAE.

The establishment of these entities also represents a first step towards investigating and cracking down on economic crimes and money laundering, including those that fall on economic interests such as corporate crimes, bankruptcy, regulation of competition, financial markets, intellectual property and trademarks, or that violate the UAE's financial rights, such as customs evasion crimes.

The project’s significance lies in its role in protecting the national economy and reducing the impact of economic and financial crimes on the economy and society, as well as growing the UAE's economy and enhancing its competitiveness as a global financial and business hub for investment and improving the efficiency and quality of criminal investigations.

The UAE is intensifying its relentless efforts to combat economic crimes and money laundering, taking many crucial steps to strengthen the legislative and legal structure towards reaching this goal, and to protect the national economy, further enhancing the confidence of international investors in the UAE’s business environment and encouraging them to bring their businesses to the UAE.

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