Measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in Palestine

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution of anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) procedures in Palestine since 2004 in accordance with the standards issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Design/methodology/approach - This study is qualitative in nature and involves studying the most important improvements made by Palestinian authorities in the state’s legislative and institutional frameworks to enhance the AML/CFT regime. Findings - Palestine has established the necessary legal basis to combat money laundering and terrorist financing crimes. At the institutional level, the Financial Follow-up Unit was granted all the required powers of Financial Intelligence Units. The National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism has also played a vital role in issuing policies and plans to respond to the outcomes of the National Risk Assessment process. In contrast, a number of challenges still exist mainly with respect to the political factors and their expected consequences on the process of preparing for and conducting the mutual evaluation process for Palestine. Originality/value - This study focusses on the AML/CFT efforts in Palestine owing to the nature and specificity of the Palestinian situation, as Palestine’s AML/CFT procedures have not been subject to any previous mutual evaluation process by the MENAFATF. Such efforts have rarely addressed the Palestinian case, making this study important to researchers and those interested in this field.