Saudi Arabia acts as a significant contributor in combating financial illegitimacy, affirms French senator
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to host an international conference titled "Sanctions, AML and CFT for Banking and Finance" in Riyadh on Oct. 21-22, 2025. This significant event will gather regulators, bankers, legal experts, and compliance professionals from around the world to discuss and address pressing issues related to money laundering, financial crime, and counter-terrorism financing.
French Senator Nathalie Goulet, a renowned advocate for financial transparency, will participate in the conference and deliver a speech. She has emphasised the importance of strengthening cross-border cooperation, exchanging best practices, and upskilling judges, customs officers, and regulators to combat the increasingly inventive techniques used by criminal networks.
These techniques, as warned by Goulet, include gold smuggled under the guise of coffee and tampered banana shipments, as well as the Middle East's rising trends in financial crimes such as gold trafficking, the unrestrained use of crypto-assets, and massive counterfeiting.
Goulet also highlighted the critical role of artificial intelligence in detecting suspicious transactions and called for the creation of research fellowships on crypto-assets and their mechanisms. She stressed the need to improve traceability, even across informal networks such as money transfer systems and certain digital platforms.
Saudi Arabia's commitment to combating money laundering and financial crime has been praised by Goulet, who also noted the country's leadership in the 'No Money for Terror' initiative. The recent appointment of Maj. Gen. Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi as head of Interpol reflects the growing influence of the region in global security governance.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addressed corruption issues head-on when he came to power, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now positioning itself as a regional financial hub, raising questions about its future role within global bodies like FATF.
The conference will also address the staggering scale of money laundering, with estimates suggesting that between 2 and 5 percent of global gross domestic product is generated from this illicit activity, yet only 1 to 2 percent of those funds are ever recovered. Counterfeiting costs the global economy an estimated $650 billion per year, including fake medicine, defective spare parts, and illicit tobacco.
It is worth noting that, as of the current information available, the list of participants for the conference has not been disclosed. However, the conference promises to be a crucial platform for discussions and collaborations to tackle these threats, with Goulet expressing hope for concrete exchanges of best practices.
The UAE was recently removed from the Financial Action Task Force gray list, which is another step towards strengthening the region's stance against money laundering and financial crime. The international conference in Riyadh next October is set to be a significant milestone in this ongoing global effort.
