Egypt bans dealings with countries with poor anti-money laundering laws

(KHARTOUM) – Egyptian banks are refusing to receive wire transfers from Sudanese and Libyan companies in line with instructions issued by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBoE).

The headquarters of the Central Bank of Egypt in the capital, Cairo (Photo: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

The CBoE decided to ban banking transactions with several Arab and African countries, including Qatar, Libya, Syria and Sudan, saying those countries are not committed to implementing anti-money laundering laws.

It also said there are suspicions that there are money transfers from those countries to civil and rights organisations inside Egypt and are being misused.

According to Egypt’s Al Youm Al Sabi’ daily newspaper, the Egyptian Chemical and Fertiliser Exports Council (CFEC) ,which is headed by Waleed Hilal, received complaints from several companies in the sector, saying they were negatively affected by the decision to ban banking transactions with those countries.

In a press statement on Wednesday, Hilal said that the companies are facing problems in receiving their dues from clients in some Arab countries due to CBoE instructions.