ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s cabinet has approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakistan’s Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) to enhance cooperation in combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and related crimes.
According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the decision was taken during a cabinet session on Tuesday, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The agreement, signed between Saudi Arabia’s General Department of Financial Investigation and Pakistan’s FMU, aims to facilitate the exchange of investigations related to financial crimes.
In Pakistan, the FMU operates under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2010, working with financial intelligence units globally to analyze suspicious transactions and share relevant information.
“[The cabinet approved] a memorandum of understanding between the General Department of Financial Investigation at the Presidency of State Security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Financial Monitoring Unit in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan regarding cooperation in exchanging investigations related to money laundering, terrorist financing, and related crimes,” the SPA reported.
The Saudi cabinet also noted the Kingdom’s hosting of the INTERPOL Regional Bureau, emphasizing its role in global efforts to combat financial crimes and extremism.
Pakistan has faced significant challenges with money laundering and terrorist financing in recent years, leading to its placement on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list in June 2018.
After implementing comprehensive reforms to strengthen its financial system, the country was removed from the grey list in October 2022.