Central Bank: Plans to eliminate corruption and money laundering
Central Bank: Plans to eliminate corruption and money laundering
2026/03/30
The central bank seeks to implement reform plans to eliminate money laundering and combat corruption.
Alaa Al-Fahd, a member of the bank’s media team, told Al-Sabah: “The most prominent of these plans is reforming the banking system and strengthening the base of financial inclusion, electronic transactions and electronic payment, noting that this plan promises the participation of international financial institutions to reduce suspicious banking transactions and money laundering operations.”
He added that these plans play a significant role in achieving financial stability by supporting banking activity and partnering with global financial institutions such as Oliver Wyman and IWE. He explained that this will be crucial in ensuring banks operate according to international standards through correspondence banking, leading to international oversight of all banking operations and contributing to transparency, improved service delivery, and participation in international treaties related to combating terrorism and money laundering. Al-Fahad emphasized that the bank’s role has become clear in light of globally published reports highlighting its efforts in combating money laundering through implemented measures and reform plans.
For his part, Dr. Safaa Al-Shammari, an expert in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, stated that the Central Bank of Iraq has made clear organizational progress in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, through updating supervisory instructions, enhancing banking compliance, and tightening control over financial transfers.
Al-Shammari told Al-Sabah: “This progress represents a partial success, as challenges still exist, most notably the high rate of cash transactions outside the banking system, the weak commitment of some financial institutions, and the slow pace of digital transformation.”
He pointed out that the problem does not lie in the laws or instructions, but rather in the implementation environment, stressing that achieving complete success requires reducing the cash economy, promoting financial inclusion, and imposing stricter control over non-compliant entities, stressing that the Central Bank has succeeded in building an advanced supervisory system.
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