Egypt says it has come a Long Way in Counter-Terror Financing

Egypt has made large strides in fighting money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Tuesday.

Madbouly said that his country has come up with legislative and supervisory tools to identify persons involved in money laundering and terrorism financing.

Terrorist attacks in Egypt have increased since Muslim Brotherhood-affliated Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in 2013.

Egypt considers the group a terrorist organization and accuses it of carrying out most of the attacks by receiving funds from certain countries in the region.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry announced last month that it raided at least 19 businesses and economic entities linked to the Brotherhood.

It accused them of funding a plot by Brotherhood leaders in Turkey to target the Egyptian state and its institutions.

Madbouly inaugurated on Tuesday an annual workshop, hosted by the Egyptian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit (EMLCU), on capacity building in the Middle East and Africa region.

Speaking at the workshop, the PM said Egyptian measures to identify agents in various financial institutions are in line with international standards related to money laundering and terrorism financing that are defined by international organizations, topped by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

He said that money laundering and terrorism financing are the most serious threats to the stability of the global financial and economic systems.

He warned that no country, no matter how powerful, is immune from terrorism, calling for drying out the sources of terrorism financing by stopping the support for terror groups and organizations.