Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing disclosure by money exchange providers in the GCC countries
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-07-2021-0081 |
| Published date | 25 August 2021 |
| Date | 25 August 2021 |
| Pages | 833-842 |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
| Author | Md Abubakar Siddique,Haitham Nobanee,Osama Fayez Atayah,Mohammed Khereldin Bayzid |
Anti-money laundering and
counter-terrorism financing
disclosure by money exchange
providers in the GCC countries
Md Abubakar Siddique
College of Business, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Haitham Nobanee
College of Business, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates;
Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK and School of
Histories, Languages and Cultures, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, and
Osama Fayez Atayah and Mohammed Khereldin Bayzid
College of Business, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to measure anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism
financing(CTF) disclosures by money exchanger providersin the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors conduct a content analysis on firms’websites to
compare theirAML/CTF disclosure against the recommendationsof the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The authorsuse a one-samplet-test to examine the degree of these disclosures.
Findings –Overall, moneyexchange providers in GCC countries do not demonstratea high degree of AML/
CTF disclosure (20.27%). Country-wise disclosure levels are: Qatar 31%, UAE 19%, Kuwait 17.1%, Oman
26.27%, Bahrain23.27% and KSA 6.1%.
Research limitations/implications –The study contributes immensely to understanding the
disclosurebehavior of this sector. It also helps in assessingtheir compliance with FATF recommendations.
Practical implications –The results show poor AML/CTF disclosure and compliance by money exchange
providers, which should leadto increased regulations by policymakers and more disclosure by practitioners.
Social implications –Money laundering(ML) and terrorism financing (TF) can adversely affectsocieties.
This study should help regulatorsto identify vulnerable areas in ML and TF activities, compare disclosures
by companiesin their countries with those of other countries and identify areas for improvement.
Originality/value –The study is a novel attempt. No study has been undertaken before to investigate
AML and CTF disclosureby money exchange providers either globally, regionallyor in any country.
Keywords Disclosure, GCC countries, Financial Action Task Force, Anti-money laundering,
Counter-terrorism financing, Money exchange providers, Money laundering, Terrorism financing
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, money laundering (ML) and terrorism
financing (TF) has becomea major concern both globally and nationally (Gibbs, 2017).ML is
All authors equally contributed to this paper.
Anti-money
laundering
833
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.25 No. 4, 2022
pp. 833-842
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-07-2021-0081
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