RIYADH: Financial inclusion is crucial to reducing challenges in tracing the illicit flow of funds, said Samya Abou Sharif, the director of Jordan’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing unit.
Abou Sharif made her statement on Thursday in Riyadh during a panel session titled “Follow-the-Money Techniques to Detect Financial Crime: Potential and Challenges” at the Arab Forum of Anti-Corruption Agencies and Financial Intelligence Units.
She emphasized the role of law enforcement and the financial intelligence units in tracing funds, the sources, transfer, and use of these funds to follow the flow of financial proceeds from criminal activities.
If a society is cash based, she said, it puts a strain on the tracing of funds “because the transactions happen outside the formal banking system.”
Therefore, Abou Sharif said, financial inclusion is crucial to encourage the opening of bank accounts, offering smooth financial services, protecting customers, and encouraging them to participate in the financial system.
“With the ongoing innovations in finance, such as the use of artificial intelligence, we need to build capacity in law enforcement in this direction, to be faster than criminals.”
Jerome Beaumont, executive secretary of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, pointed to the creation and development of new decentralized financial spaces over the past 10 years.
“I am referring to the crypto industry and the broader concept of Web3, which encompasses cryptocurrencies. It is important to note that more than 100 new cryptocurrencies were generated and created daily at one point.”
Beaumont said we have created financial intelligence units for this new space as a reaction to these emerging platforms.
“We are now adopting and using new tools and crypto-based technologies to track transactions.”
Beaumont said that financial intelligence units face an ongoing trend: the increase in suspicious transaction reports sent by reporting entities.
“The only way to kind of bridge the gap was technology. Interestingly, a lot of those used … have been using AI, machine learning, and big data analytics.”
Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al-Zahrani, director of the General Department of Finance Investigations, Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority, mentioned key factors for the success of the financial investigation.
“In 2023, we provided over 400 people across the Kingdom with training on financial investigations.”
Al-Zahrani said the authority has a cadre of highly trained employees working closely with the Saudi Central Bank and other authorities to combat financial crimes.
“We cooperate with our colleagues in the criminal investigation and prosecution units concerning … labor investigations, then weigh the results of these investigations to tighten the noose on criminals,” he added.
Al-Zahrani said that the authority strives greatly to determine the real beneficiary of the proceeds of the crime.
“We bear great responsibility for dealing with financial corruption as it is a very complex crime.”

RIYADH: Thomas Lid Ball, Norway’s ambassador to the Kingdom, hosted his last national day reception as his country’s representative in Saudi Arabia before taking up his new role later this year. 

“This will be the last national day celebration here at the compound for my wife Camilla and me. At the end of August, I will take up the position as Norway’s representative to the Palestinian Authorities,” Ball said in his opening remarks.

“We will remain forever grateful for the invaluable support from the fantastic team here at the embassy over the past years,” he said. 

Norway’s national day is celebrated annually on May 17 and pays tribute to the constitution of 1814 and honors the royal family.

Attending the national day reception as the guest of honor was Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, the deputy governor of the Riyadh region. 

In his opening address at the reception, Ball discussed a range of topics, including his time in the Kingdom as ambassador, Saudi-Norwegian private sector cooperation, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

“The Saudi-Norwegian private sector partnerships contribute to the implementation of Vision 2030 in the Kingdom – to value creation, sustainability and corporate social responsibility,” Ball said. “They are an essential part of the solid bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Norway, officially established more than 60 years ago.

“Our relations have further developed over the past year, through bilateral dialogues on a range of issues and various visits and events, including two Saudi ministerial visits to Oslo, and vice versa, two Norwegian ministerial visits to Riyadh,” he said. 

During his speech, the ambassador stressed the need for an “immediate ceasefire, for hostages to be released, for safe and unhindered humanitarian access to alleviate the unprecedented suffering of civilians in Gaza and for an end to the escalating violence elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Still addressing that conflict, he said: “According to local health authorities, at least 35,173 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7. Many of those who have lost their lives are women and children. On the West Bank, 479 Palestinians have been killed, including 116 children. 

“The conflict must be moved into a political track aiming for a political solution – a two-state solution that fulfills the right of the Palestinian people, ensures security for Israel, and paves the way for enhanced security in the wider region,” Ball said. 

The theme of the national day reception hosted in the ambassador’s residence was water.  

“As you may have noticed, we’ve chosen water as the theme for this year’s event. Because ‘water is life’; necessary for the survival of all living organisms on the planet, and because the management of our water resources is of such importance, both for the Kingdom of Norway and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the ambassador said. 

Concluding his speech the ambassador said: “I would like to take the opportunity to also thank our Saudi friends and host country, our honorary consul in Jeddah, Abdullah bin Mahfouz, our friends in Bahrain, Oman and Yemen, our fellow citizens in the four countries, and not least our dear colleagues here in the diplomatic community.”

The celebration featured an open dinner buffet highlighting traditional dishes from Norway. The reception also featured a photograph area where visitors could pose against a boat backdrop while wearing Viking headgear.