The National Committee for Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Illegal Organisations (NAMLCFTC) of the United Arab Emirates and Italy’s Guardia di Finanza concluded in Rome a workshop attended by high-level authorities from both countries, reaching agreement on a series of shared strategic priorities to strengthen international cooperation and asset recovery.
The initiative, hosted at the General Headquarters of the Guardia di Finanza in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the NAMLCFTC, gathered representatives from various Italian and Emirati authorities with competence in this field.
In his opening remarks, Hamid Al Zaabi, Secretary General and Vice Chairman of the NAMLCFTC of the United Arab Emirates, emphasized that asset recovery represents a shared priority for the UAE, for Italy, and for the entire global FATF network. He highlighted that the economies of the two countries, which are deeply interconnected, generate opportunities but also risks, and that only through strengthened international cooperation will it be possible to disrupt illicit financial flows.
He further recalled Italy’s long-standing role as a global leader in asset recovery, stressing that the UAE is today proud to be among the jurisdictions achieving significant progress in this area. The workshop was presented as a concrete outcome of the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year with the Guardia di Finanza, with the aim of marking a new milestone in bilateral cooperation and serving as an example to be replicated at the regional level.
The Deputy Commander of the Guardia di Finanza, General of the Army Corps Bruno Buratti, underlined that asset recovery represents an essential pillar of economic and financial security and that the discussions fit within the broader framework of fruitful relations between Italy and the United Arab Emirates, in the spirit of the protocol signed in Abu Dhabi in 2024.
He stressed the importance of international cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and best practices, which are indispensable to strengthen the joint response against economic and financial crime. He also recalled the co-leadership role assumed by the Guardia di Finanza, together with the U.S. Department of Justice, in drafting the new FATF Guidance on Asset Recovery, reiterating that international cooperation is no longer an optional choice, but the only viable path to make crime unprofitable and to return illegally diverted resources to society.
The discussions led to:
• reaffirming the central role of financial intelligence as an essential tool for the identification and tracing of illicit assets;
• committing to strengthen international cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, through major global networks and platforms;
• stressing the need for greater harmonization of legal and judicial procedures, to make cross-border seizure and confiscation measures more effective;
• placing particular emphasis on the management and social reuse of confiscated assets, with the aim of returning them to the community in a spirit of transparency and accountability;
• reinforcing joint training and the capacity to address emerging risks, including those linked to cybercrime and digital assets.
The authorities of Italy and the United Arab Emirates emphasised that the shared strategic priorities identified constitute not only a roadmap for their bilateral partnership, but also a resource for all jurisdictions engaged in building stronger and more effective frameworks in the field of asset recovery.
