sultan bin nasser al - suwaidi : encountering money laundering and terrorist financing inaugural speech by his excellency sultan bin nasser al - suwaidi, governor of the central bank of the united arab emirates and chairman of the national anti - money laundering committee in the united arab emirates, at the joint seminar of the national anti - money laundering committee and the serious organized crime agency ( soca ) a€ “ uk, al - ain, 2 july 2006. * * * your excellencies, honored guests, fellow members of the national anti - money laundering committee, ladies & gentlemen, after greetings i would like to give you all a whole hearted welcome at the joint seminar of the national anti - money laundering committee in the uae and serious organized crimes agency ( soca ) - uk which is held today in the city of al - ain, in order to discuss some topics relating to : " encountering financial crimes ; including money laundering and terrorist financing ". the meeting of your esteemed committee this morning, prior to the joint seminar, signifies the important role the committee undertakes in accordance with federal law no. ( 4 ) for the year 2002 regarding criminalization of money laundering, and the role played by fellow members of the committee in facilitating exchange of information, and ensuring coordination between the bodies they represent, and generally representing the uae in issues and relating to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. at the outset of the joint seminar, i'm also pleased to welcome mr. paul evans, the executive director of the serious organized crimes agency ( soca ) and the accompanying delegation, and also mr. robert dean, the deputy head of the diplomatic mission of the uk in abu dhabi, for their participation at this meeting, and for their appreciated coordination regarding the issues which would be discussed today. your excellencies, ladies & gentiemen, we highly appreciate the significant role of the national anti - money laundering committee in the uae in the area of international cooperation and their keen interest to learn of the best practices for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and the techniques applied in this respect by friendly countries. delegations from your esteemed committee have visited the uk several times, and received fruitful cooperation from the competent authorities in the uk, including the serious organized crimes agency ( soca ). we highly appreciate, as well, the attitude of the authorities in the uk, particularly the serious organized crimes agency ( soca ) for their continuous liaison with the authorities in the uae

flows will be scrutinized by regulators for type of investment and whether direct or passive. also complexity of investment products will draw special attention. as for inward investment flows, regulators will put some type of filters to prevent hot money, or huge inflows followed by quick outflow of funds. banking regulations will probably be amended in the coming few months. i believe, the smaller economy countries will steer their banking system towards lowering the growth rate of loans and advances plus investments versus stable deposits. investment banking business, on the other hand will be subjected to a great deal of more regulations than in the past. in summary, i think that the present global financial crisis will impact globalization of financial services, as many restrictions will be put in place in many countries including the g7 countries, which might open a window of opportunity for countries in our region or the wider area. second : cross - border investment flows cross - border investment flows should be welcomed by recipient countries and encouraged by source countries, as many countries in our area need to set rules to enable the establishment of large projects for the purpose of creating jobs. that will also enhance peace and stability on the national level, which will certainly improve the prospects for the regions in this vast area. any help by the world bank in improving and unifying investment laws in addition to watching their implementation, will go a long way in achieving this important regional objective. sovereign wealth fund source countries should also be interested in investing in mega projects in the region for three reasons, as follows : 1. the global financial crisis proved that investments through industrialized advanced countries ’ investment banks are not totally risk free. 2. there is a need within swf source countries to safe guard flow of food imports at reasonable prices, and the possibility for incorporating companies as direct investment projects in countries in the region is a realistic possibility, when investment laws are enacted and maintained at international standards. 3. swf source countries should be interested in the maintenance of social order, peace and stability in the regions of this area. another reason that makes me think that swfs from our region might change the flow of their direct investments, is that once we see the proposed regulations re sovereign wealth funds in the industrialized advanced economies start being implemented, when economies in the west start doing well, more questions will be asked and more forms will become necessary to fill and more disclosure and transparency will be demanded. this behavior will signal that there is no strong need for foreign capital in the west, and that the