Context

The UAE’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) launched the new anti-money laundering platform 'goAML' (Anti-Money Laundering) to curb the organized crimes.

About

• The UAE has become the first country in the Gulf to launch a new reporting platform developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to curb organized crimes.
• All financial institutions in the country have to report any suspicious transactions through this platform.
• The platform will help the FIU prevent money laundering, financing of terrorism and other illicit financial activities.

What is goAML?

• The platform was developed by UNODC as a strategic response against financial crime, as advised by the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
• It is a one-stop, fully integrated solution that meets the IT needs of most FIUs, with the primary objective of enhancing the capacity of member states to detect financial crime and to meet international standards relating to money laundering and terrorist financing.

United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime

• UNODC was established in 1997 as part of the United Nations reform combining the previous UN Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention.
• The mandate of the Office is enshrined in UN conventions such as UN Conventions on Drugs, the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its three Protocols on Trafficking in Persons, on Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and on Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, the UN Convention against Corruption, the universal instruments against terrorism and the UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice.
• With the help of these instruments, UNODC helps Member States address the issues of illicit drugs, crime and terrorism.

 United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

• It was adopted by UN General Assembly in November 2000 and is the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime.
• The Convention is further supplemented by three Protocols, which target specific areas and manifestations of organized crime

1. 1. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. It is the first global legally binding instrument with an agreed definition on trafficking in persons.
   2. Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air
   3. Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition.

• Countries must become parties to the Convention itself before they can become parties to any of the Protocols.
• States that ratify the convention commit themselves to taking a series of measures against transnational organized crime, including:

1. 1. Creation of domestic criminal offences (participation in an organized criminal group, money laundering, corruption and obstruction of justice).
   2. Adoption of new and sweeping frameworks for extradition, mutual legal assistance and law enforcement cooperation; and the promotion of training and technical assistance for building or upgrading the necessary capacity of national authorities.

UN Convention against Corruption

• The United Nations Convention against Corruption is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. The Convention's far-reaching approach and the mandatory character of many of its provisions make it a unique tool for developing a comprehensive response to a global problem.
• The Convention covers five main areas: preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical assistance and information exchange.
• The Convention covers many different forms of corruption, such as bribery, trading in influence, abuse of functions, and various acts of corruption in the private sector.
• A highlight of the Convention is the inclusion of a specific chapter on asset recovery, aimed at returning assets to their rightful owners, including countries from which they had been taken illicitly.