Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing disclosure by money exchange providers in the GCC countries

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to measure anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) disclosures by money exchanger providers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The authors conduct a content analysis on firms’ websites to compare their AML/CTF disclosure against the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The authors use a one-sample t-test to examine the degree of these disclosures. Overall, money exchange providers in GCC countries do not demonstrate a high degree of AML/CTF disclosure (20.27%). Country-wise disclosure levels are: Qatar 31%, UAE 19%, Kuwait 17.1%, Oman 26.27%, Bahrain 23.27% and KSA 6.1%. The study contributes immensely to understanding the disclosure behavior of this sector. It also helps in assessing their compliance with FATF recommendations. The results show poor AML/CTF disclosure and compliance by money exchange providers, which should lead to increased regulations by policymakers and more disclosure by practitioners. Money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF) can adversely affect societies. This study should help regulators to identify vulnerable areas in ML and TF activities, compare disclosures by companies in their countries with those of other countries and identify areas for improvement. The study is a novel attempt. No study has been undertaken before to investigate AML and CTF disclosure by money exchange providers either globally, regionally or in any country. Keywords: Anti-money laundering, Counter-terrorism financing, Disclosure, Financial Action Task Force, GCC countries, Money exchange providers, Money laundering, Terrorism financing