عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Arabia Launches Training Program to Combat Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing

Director-General of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Academy Mana bin Mohammed Al-Khamsan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Director-General of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Academy Mana bin Mohammed Al-Khamsan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia Launches Training Program to Combat Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing

Director-General of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Academy Mana bin Mohammed Al-Khamsan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Director-General of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Academy Mana bin Mohammed Al-Khamsan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has unveiled a new training program to fight money laundering and terrorism financing. The initiative targets leaders in financial and non-financial sectors across the country.

The announcement was made during the "Arab Forum for Anti-Corruption Agencies and Financial Intelligence Units," a two-day event sponsored by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh.

The 18-month program aims to train personnel to better prevent, analyze, and report illegal activities. It also seeks to improve information sharing between financial institutions and regulatory bodies, bolstering the overall integrity of the financial system.

The program, presented by Mana bin Mohammed Al-Khamsan, Director-General of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Academy, is a joint effort with the Kingdom’s state security and an international consultancy.

Al-Khamsan stressed the importance of combating financial crimes and highlighted the academy’s commitment to providing specialized training and certifications.

Aligned with Saudi Arabia’s national transformation plan, Vision 2030, the academy aims to support entities combating corruption and financial crimes. It has conducted over 500 training programs benefiting thousands of professionals from various sectors.

Al-Khamsan emphasized the value of professional certifications in boosting workforce efficiency, noting partnerships with respected international associations and institutions.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
TT
TT

ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.