On conclusion of workshop on money launderingLegislative and legal measures to combat the phenomenon [Archives:2003/667/Business & Economy]

On 6-8 September 2003 a special workshop was held in Sana'a on discussing and combating the phenomenon of money laundering. Studies presented at the workshop had confirmed weakness of the phenomenon in the Yemeni banks due to absence of huge means that are needed in order to explain the Yemeni law promulgated in this respect.
The workshop was organized by the Institute for Banking Studies and the Yemen Central Bank. The workshop targeted enhancement of Yemen's legislative and legal steps for curbing the leakage of illegitimate capital or trading with it. The workshop working papers had confirmed that weakness of national bank capital that is not exceeding $14 million pushes away the ghost of circulation and laundering illegitimate money.
Participants in the workshop that was concluded last Monday had recommended joining local efforts for confronting crimes of money laundering as the process needed mustering a collective work and not confined to the responsibility of on side than another.
The workshop also recommended the confrontation of organized crimes and tightening the grip on perpetrators of money laundering and depriving them of benefiting from loopholes that the banking sector was suffering from before issuance of the law on combating money laundering.
According to a special study on these crimes Yemen is targeted by gangs of money laundering in order to render it a linking point between production centers of dangerous drugs, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan and the consumer countries in Europe and America, due to Yemen's geographical distinguished position. The study has estimated the total verified income from world illegal drugs operations at $688 billion per year, $5 billion in Britain, 33 billions in Europe, 150 billions in America and 500 billions in the rest of the world countries. It has also clarified that information piracy operations' value exceeds $200 billion, in imitating trade marks over 100 billion and in forfeiting and fraud more than 10 billions while pornography films yield about $2.5 billion and sex activities 20 billion per year.
According to banking working papers presented at the workshop the available information on money laundering in Yemen has not reached a level of danger but in recent years it has been found out the presence of fears from illegal trade with money laundering.
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