Regulatory Alerts2003-01-01
Law No. 78 of 2003 Amending Some Provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law Issued by Law No. 80 of 2002
The Egyptian People's Assembly enacted Law No. 78 of 2003 to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Law No. 80 of 2002). The legislation expands the list of predicate offenses to include fraud, breach of trust, deception, and forgery, and authorizes the Prime Minister to designate additional entities subject to reporting obligations. It further introduces a judicial leniency mechanism that permits courts to waive imprisonment and fines for perpetrators who voluntarily report the crime and facilitate the apprehension of accomplices or recovery of illicit assets.
Official Gazette - Issue No. 23 (Duplicate) on June 8, 2003
Law No. 78 of 2003 Amending Some Provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law Issued by Law No. 80 of 2002
In the Name of the People President of the Republic
The People's Assembly has enacted the following law, which we hereby issue:
(Article One)
A new clause numbered (11) is added to paragraph (c) of Article (1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Law issued by Law No. 80 of 2002, reading as follows:
Article (1), paragraph (c) «11 - Other entities to be specified by a decision of the Prime Minister.
This applies whether the person conducting the activities stipulated in this article is a legal entity or a natural person.
The phrase "and crimes of fraud and breach of trust, and crimes of deception and forgery" is also added to the text of Article (2) of the same law, following the phrase "and crimes of theft and embezzlement of funds" contained in that article.
(Article Two)
The text of Article (17) of the aforementioned Anti-Money Laundering Law is replaced with the following:
Article (17) «In the event of multiple perpetrators in the crime of money laundering, if any of them voluntarily reports the crime and the other perpetrators to any of the competent investigative or judicial authorities before any of these authorities first become aware of it, or reports it after the authorities become aware of the crime and such report leads to the apprehension of the other perpetrators or the funds subject to the crime, the court shall, if it deems these conditions met, exempt the reporting perpetrator from the imprisonment and fine stipulated in the first paragraph of Article (14) of this Law, without affecting any other supplementary penalties stipulated in the second paragraph of the same article».
(Article Three)
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 8 Rabi' al-Thani, 1424 AH (Corresponding to June 8, 2003 AD)
Hosni Mubarak