The number of suspected money-laundering deals being reported by UAE-based banks and financial firms is expected to increase by about 10 per cent this year compared to 2008, as awareness of laundering methods is raised, senior regulators said yesterday.

As many as 6,198 "suspicious transaction reports", or STRs, pertaining to money laundering have been filed in the UAE until May this year and the number may increase to 15,000 for the full year, Saeed Abdullah Al Hamiz, Senior Executive Director in the UAE Central Bank's Banking Supervision and Examination Department, said at an anti-money laundering (AML) briefing at the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

In 2008, 13,101 STRs were filed, bringing the total to 80,592 from 2002 to date. Of the total STRs filed to date, 285 have been referred to the UAE Public Prosecutor's Office, of which 20 have reached court, Hamiz said. "To take it to court, you need to investigate, seek documentary evidence and build a foolproof case," he said.

Hamiz refused to give the monetary size of the cases that have reached the prosecution stage, but DFSA Chief Executive Paul M Koster agreed that each suspected money-laundering transaction would involve "a minimum of seven digits or eight".

The increase in the number of suspect transactions "is not – repeat not – a bad sign", Koster said. "It indicates that awareness is being raised about these issues. I must stress that awareness [of AML issues] has to be constant."

Hamiz said: "More institutions are aware of this issue and there is a level of training that has been imparted by the regulators."

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