Regulatory Alerts2008-01-01
Law No. 181 of 2008 Amending Some Provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law Issued by Law No. 80 of 2007
The President of the Republic of Egypt, acting through the People's Assembly, enacted Law No. 181 of 2008 to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law by significantly expanding the list of predicate offenses to encompass terrorism, financing of terrorism, organized crime, intellectual property infringement, environmental violations, and customs evasion. The legislation mandates that financial institutions and other designated entities report suspicious transactions and provide requested data to the Financial Monitoring Unit, while explicitly granting supervisory authority to the Prime Minister to designate additional obligated parties. Furthermore, it establishes enforcement mechanisms including court-ordered publication of conviction judgments at the offender's expense and the suspension of a legal entity's operations for up to one year.
Official Gazette - Issue No. 75 (Duplicate) on June 27, 2008
Law No. 181 of 2008
Amending Some Provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law Issued by Law No. 80 of 2007
In the Name of the People President of the Republic
The People's Assembly has decided the following law, which we hereby enact:
(Article One)
The following texts shall replace the texts of Articles (7 and 12) of the Anti-Money Laundering Law issued by Law No. 80 of 2007:
Article (7): "The laundering of proceeds derived from crimes involving the cultivation, manufacturing, and transportation of plants, jewelry, and narcotic substances, as well as their import, export, and trafficking, and the management or preparation of places for their consumption, and their equivalent, and crimes involving the hijacking of transport messages and hostage-taking, and crimes of terrorism and financing of terrorism as stipulated in the Penal Code or any other law, and crimes involving the smuggling of weapons, ammunition, and explosives, and their trafficking and manufacture without a license, and the crimes stipulated in Chapters One, Two, Three, Four, Fifteen, and Sixteen of Book Two of the Penal Code, and crimes of theft and robbery, crimes of fraud and breach of trust, crimes of deception and fraud, crimes of concealing stolen items or proceeds from a felony or misdemeanor, crimes of receiving funds in violation of the provisions of Law No. 146 of 1988, crimes of infringing intellectual property rights, crimes of indecency and prostitution, crimes against antiquities, environmental crimes related to hazardous materials and waste, crimes of murder and injury, customs evasion crimes, crimes of dealing in foreign currency in violation of legally prescribed rules, crimes of illicit enrichment, and the crimes stipulated in Article (64) of the Capital Market Law issued by Law No. 95 of 1997, and organized crimes referred to in international conventions and their supplementary protocols to which the Arab Republic of Egypt is a party, and punishable under Egyptian law, all of this regardless of whether the money laundering crime or the aforementioned crimes were committed domestically or abroad, even if punishable under both the Egyptian and foreign laws."
(Article Two)
The following text shall replace the text of the first paragraph of item (c) of Article (11) of the aforementioned Anti-Money Laundering Law:
Paragraph (1) Item (c) of Article (11): "Other entities to be specified by a decision of the Prime Minister, along with their obligations and the duties of the authorities responsible for their supervision."
Article (5) Last Paragraph: "The provisions of the last paragraph of Article (98) of the Currency and Exchange Law issued by Law No. 88 of 2003 shall apply to crimes of money laundering, crimes of terrorism, and the crime of financing of terrorism."
(Article Three)
Two additional paragraphs, second and third, shall be added to Article (7), and a third paragraph to Article (16) of the Anti-Money Laundering Law issued by Law No. 80 of 2007, with the following texts:
Article (7) Second and Third Paragraphs: "The Unit shall supervise entities and institutions, in accordance with the manner regulated by the Executive Regulations.
In all cases, competent authorities are obligated to inform the Unit of any information they possess regarding crimes of money laundering and financing of terrorism, the measures they take concerning them, and the interpretations placed on expenditures related thereto."
Article (16) Third Paragraph: "The court shall order, in the conviction judgment, the publication of the judgment at the expense of the legal entity in two widely circulated daily newspapers, and the court may order the suspension of the legal entity's activities for a period not exceeding one year.
The following phrases shall also be added to the articles of the aforementioned law indicated nearby:
- The phrase "and others" after the phrase "financial institutions" appearing in Article (4).
- The phrase "or financing of terrorism" after the phrase "money laundering" wherever it appears in Articles (4, 5, 7, 8, 11).
- The phrase "and this crime is exempt from the application of the provisions of the second paragraph of Article (32) of the Penal Code" to the end of the second paragraph of Article (14).
- The phrase "and these entities and financial institutions are obligated to provide the Unit with the data, information, and statistics it requests to keep pace with its competencies, as well as regarding the operations specified for them by the Executive Regulations and in accordance with the procedures established by the Unit" at the end of the first paragraph of Article (7)."
(Article Four)
This Law shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall take effect from the day following its publication date.
This Law shall be sealed with the State seal and enforced as one of its laws.
Issued at the Presidency on 18 Jumada al-Thani 1429 AH (Corresponding to June 27, 2008 AD)
Hosni Mubarak
Deposit Number at the National Library 2008/65 General Authority for Royal Printing Affairs 25599 S - 7007 - 2107