New Delhi: In a significant step towards combating money laundering and financing of terrorism, India and Qatar’s Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) held a two-day meeting in New Delhi on November 4-5. A nine-member Qatari delegation, led by Sheikh Ahmed Al Thani, Head of FIU-Qatar, met with the Indian counterpart, represented by Vivek Aggarwal, Head of FIU-IND.
The meeting centred on bolstering the India-Qatar partnership to curb illicit financial activities by sharing best practices, enhancing IT systems and fostering public and private partnerships. Both sides discussed existing and future collaboration strategies, highlighting their shared commitment to a robust Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.
Key areas of deliberation included advancements in IT systems for monitoring financial transactions, innovative approaches to public-private partnerships and the strategic analysis tools utilised by both countries. FIU-IND shared insights on its advanced IT platform, FINNET 2.0, which has received widespread acclaim for its sophistication and capability. FIU-Qatar expressed a strong interest in learning more about FINNET 2.0, recognising its potential in enhancing Qatar’s own monitoring systems.
One unique aspect of India’s approach, as highlighted in the discussions, is the private-private partnership initiative known as ARIFAC (Alliance of Reporting Entities in India for AML/CFT), designed to promote collaboration among private sector entities within the AML/CFT framework. The Qatari delegation was keen to explore the feasibility of adopting a similar model in Qatar, seeing its value in enhancing cooperation among reporting entities such as banks, financial institutions, and other private sector stakeholders.
Further enriching the collaborative experience, FIU-IND organised two on-site visits for the Qatari delegation to observe India’s AML/CFT operations firsthand. These visits allowed the delegation to engage with key stakeholders and gain insights into India’s real-world efforts in fighting financial crimes.
The two FIUs also explored emerging challenges posed by virtual digital assets (VDAs) and service providers (VDA-SPs), a sector growing in both countries. FIU-IND’s experience with regulatory measures around digital assets was shared, with the aim of supporting Qatar’s initiatives in developing similar controls for the sector.
India and Qatar have a history of cooperation in AML/CFT efforts, dating back to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on information exchange for money laundering and terrorism financing on June 5, 2016. Both nations are members of the Egmont Group and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), actively participating in these global organizations to combat financial crimes.
The two-day meeting concluded on a positive note, with Sheikh Ahmed Al Thani extending a warm invitation to Shri Aggarwal to visit FIU-Qatar soon. This exchange between the FIUs is expected to further strengthen India-Qatar ties and amplify their joint efforts in addressing financial crimes on a global scale.
By fostering cooperation and learning from each other’s experiences, both countries reiterated their commitment to building a transparent, secure, and resilient financial environment capable of resisting money laundering and terrorism financing.
