KTFA:

Samson:  An Iraqi government official's home was attacked by an armed man for exposing "large corruption files"

2nd September, 2022

The Minister of Industry and Minerals, Manhal Aziz Al-Khabbaz, denounced on Friday the armed "attack" that targeted the house of the Undersecretary for Planning Affairs, Youssef Muhammad Jassim, by unknown persons against the background of "exposing large corruption files".

In a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, the minister said, "Such attacks and threats will not discourage the ministry from moving forward in implementing reform plans and addressing deficiencies in order to correct the course of work in the ministry and its affiliated formations in a manner that guarantees the sustainability of the industrial process in the country."

This statement did not mention any other details.  LINK

Suzie:  IMO Just a thought, I would think the CBI should be close to announcing the rate change soon or what's going to happen with all those international contracts, including Total that have been signed using Iraqi dinars instead of USD's and with being accepted Buna and AMF I would think these folks and Saudi Arabia are getting a little nervous right now, again, just a thought.

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Samson:  Integrity: Imprisonment and a fine of $10 million for a government bank official

09/01/2022 09:47:15

The Federal Integrity Commission announced the issuance of a prison sentence and a financial fine against the assistant branch manager of a government bank in Anbar. This is against the background of the case of embezzled funds from the bank.

The Commission's Investigation Department, while talking about the case that it investigated and referred to the judiciary, reported that the Rusafa Criminal Court, which is specialized in integrity issues, issued a ruling that sentenced to imprisonment for a period of (15) years, with a fine of 10 million dollars against the assistant director of Al-Rafidain Bank - Khalidiya branch. 

 She added that the court, after perusal of the papers, investigation records, seized exhibits, evidence and evidence obtained in this case, reached full conviction of the defendant's negligence, and decided to convict her by issuing a judgment in her presence imprisoning her (15) years, with a fine of $10,000,000; Based on the requirements of Article (36) of the Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Law No. (39) of 2015.

The department continued, explaining its steps taken after a life sentence was issued against the director of Al-Rafidain Bank - Khalidiya branch. For his participation with his assistant and other employees in embezzling an amount of (50,000,000,000) billion dinars from the bank resulting from the disbursement of pensioners’ money in Anbar to access the embezzled funds.

In cooperation with law enforcement agencies and in accordance with judicial memoranda, a team from the department carried out raids and searches on the homes of the convicts, both the Rafidain Bank branch manager and his assistant, in coordination between the Baghdad Investigation Directorate and the land holding force in Anbar Governorate, where the team was able to find money in one of their homes. The value of more than half a billion Iraqi dinars, in addition to seizing (9) real estate bonds distributed in different areas in Baghdad, pointing out that its continuous operations led to the discovery of a huge multi-storey building in the center of Al-Mansour city and a plot of land in the same location (which belongs to the accused), As well as a 300-square-meter house in the University neighborhood, and (2) real estate apartments outside Iraq and multiple bank accounts.

The team organized fundamentalist records, as all real estate bonds and citations related to them were linked in the investigative papers and presented to the judiciary, and their values ​​were estimated and a special account was opened in the Rafidain Bank. to deposit the resulting rents.  LINK

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Samson:  Integrity : 15 arrest and recruitment orders against high-ranking people during July

1st September, 2022

Today, Thursday, the Federal Integrity Commission revealed that it had carried out 15 arrest and recruitment operations against high-ranking people during last July

A statement by the commission, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), stated that "its operations, activities, and results achieved during the month of July were 45 arrests, 15 suspects caught in flagrante delicto, and 15 arrest warrants and summonses issued by judicial orders against those with higher degrees

He added, "Judicial convictions during last July amounted to 90, while the number of those convicted by judicial rulings reached 131, and the files for receiving fugitives and smuggled money amounted to 58 files

He continued: "While the forms of those covered in the list of received financial receivables amounted to 1930 forms, as for those covered by the disclosure that appeared to have a conflict of interest, their number reached 25, in addition to the visits to monitor job performance in state institutions, which amounted to 42 visits

He pointed out that "the training courses, workshops and seminars held by the authority amounted to 8, while the paper publications and television and radio episodes amounted to 3, while the research, studies, statistical reports and other practical activities amounted to 6  LINK

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Samson:  The Arab Monetary Fund Organizes The 16th "Remotely" Meeting Of The Financial Stability Task Force In The Arab Countries

1st September, 2022

Wednesday, August 31 and Thursday, September 1, 2022

The team discusses:

Lessons learned from the coronavirus crisis   

Requirements for designing early warning systems in the banking sector

The impact of climate change on financial stability and ways to implement the guidelines issued by the Arab Monetary Fund

The implications of digital currencies on financial stability

Development of tests for partial and total stress conditions in light of current global developments

The impact of high public debt on financial stability

Banking crisis management system and recovery plans

Wednesday, August 31, 2022, the sixteenth "remotely" periodic meeting of the Financial Stability Task Force in the Arab Countries will open.  It is noteworthy that the team stems from the Board of Governors of Arab Central Banks and Monetary Institutions, and includes in its membership the directors of the financial stability departments of these banks and institutions, in addition to the Arab Monetary Fund, which is responsible for its technical secretariat. 

The meeting of the team will be attended by representatives of regional and international institutions, including: the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Financial Stability Board, the Bank for International Settlements, the Institute for Financial Stability, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Federation of Deposit Insurance Institutions, the International Federation of Insurance Supervisors, and the European Central Bank and the European Crisis Management Council.

The team contributes to developing policies and tools related to enhancing financial stability in Arab countries, and exchanging expertise and experience among them in this regard. The team also includes preparing a financial stability report in the Arab countries, preparing working papers and studies on the conditions of financial stability in the Arab countries, in addition to contributing to enhancing awareness of financial stability issues through holding seminars and workshops and issuing relevant periodic reports.

At the sixteenth meeting, the team will address a number of important topics that keep pace with the latest developments related to financial stability issues, including stress tests regarding lessons learned from the emerging coronavirus crisis.  In this regard, the role of these tests will be discussed during the pandemic, and the need to develop them in the future, taking into account the emerging risks to the banking sector.  Other aspects related to ways to strengthen the crisis management system in central banks, the role of deposit guarantee institutions in dealing with banking crises, and methods for designing early warning systems in the banking sector will also be discussed.

The topics of the meeting also include discussing a number of new issues related to financial stability in the Arab countries, including: supervisory and regulatory techniques from the perspective of financial stability, the expected impact of the percentage of non-performing credit facilities after lifting the support measures taken by central banks, and the risks of the non-bank financial sector and how to apply stress tests to measure those risks. These topics also include the determinants of banks' profitability, and the impact of high government indebtedness on financial stability.

In the context of the working papers that the team is working on, the experience of the Central Bank of Oman in applying the Financial Stability Index will be discussed. The experiences of Arab countries in adopting the deposit insurance system will also be reviewed. Finally, the discussions will include preparations for the financial stability report in the Arab countries for the year 2023 and progress on preparing the chapters of the report.

On the other hand, and within the framework of the team’s cooperation with international institutions, the Financial Stability Board will present a presentation on the latest developments related to the activities of the Council, especially the topics of the repercussions of the Corona pandemic and cybersecurity. The team will also hear another presentation from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, on the latest developments related to the activities of the committee, and a third presentation from the Financial Stability Institute on managing banking crises in emerging market economies, in addition to two other presentations from the European Central Bank and the European Crisis Management Council on digital currencies. and crisis management, respectively.

On this occasion, His Excellency the Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund, Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Hamidi, pointed to the great and increasing importance of issues related to financial stability, as maintaining financial stability in Arab countries has become a priority for central banks and Arab monetary institutions. His Excellency expressed his pleasure at the progress in discussing important and emerging topics by the team, which are consistent with the priorities of the Arab countries.  He also noted the remarkable devlopment witnessed by the Financial Stability Report for the year 2022 and looking forward to the report for the next year 2023.  His Excellency also stressed the increasing interest shown by their Excellencies, Governors of Arab Central Banks and Monetary Instituions, to the work of the team and the prominent role it plays in the exchange of experiences and expertise among Arab countries in terms of this improtant topic.

It should be noted that the Arab Monetary Fund, in its role as a technical secretariat for the Board of Governors of Arab Central Banks and Monetary Institutions, assumes the secretariat of the team. The Fund's tasks in this regard are based on preparing the agenda, contributing to studies and reports prepared by the team, and following up on recommendations.  LINK