2017-01-01
The Palestine Monetary Authority and the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism issued Circular No. 2017/163 and Decision No. 2017/7 to mandate strict compliance measures for all Palestinian banks interacting with Lari and Al-Fardan Exchange Companies. The directives require banks to obtain certified approvals, updated Wolfsberg questionnaire responses, UAE Central Bank authorizations, risk-based operational procedures, and enhanced due diligence clarifications from the two UAE-based firms by September 1, 2017. Failure to comply will result in a complete prohibition on processing any incoming or outgoing remittance transactions involving these exchange companies.