UAE dropped from financial crime watch list in win for nation

The United Arab Emirates, home to the financial hub of Dubai, has been dropped from a global watchdog’s list of countries at risk of illicit money flows, a win for the nation that could bolster its international standing.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a body that groups countries from the United States to China to tackle financial crime, on Friday dropped the UAE from its ‘grey list’ of around two-dozen nations considered risky.

The Gulf country, a magnet for millionaires, bankers and hedge funds, was placed under closer scrutiny in 2022, when the FATF highlighted the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing involving banks, precious metals and stones as well as property.

The delisting is a coup for the one-time regional pearl and fish trading hub which is now one of the world’s wealthiest nations after the discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi in the late 1950s.

Read more: Reuters