Dubai has long been known as a global gold trading hub, but it has also faced criticism for its role in facilitating the conflict gold trade and money laundering.
One significant step that Dubai has taken to clean up its gold industry and combat money laundering is to remove cash transactions in the Gold Souk. It was recommended that the US government, the European Union, and gold industry actors should engage with UAE authorities to ban cash transactions for gold above small amounts. This would help eliminate the off-the-books cash transactions for hand-carried gold, which can potentially involve millions of dollars.
By removing cash transactions in the Gold Souk, Dubai has increase transparency and reduced the opportunities for money laundering. This has also encouraged better regulation and compliance within the gold industry, making it more difficult for conflict gold and illicit funds to enter the market.
Implementing stricter controls on gold transactions and working closely with international partners to enforce anti-money laundering regulations would not only help protect the reputation of Dubai’s gold industry but also contribute to global efforts against illegal gold trade and money laundering.
That being said, if you are in the industry, you will know that a lot of the open trade has gone behind closed doors and secret offices have been established that look like a doctors waiting room, so it’s not entirely cleaned up but has progressed some ways towards a better Dubai gold industry.
But lets not forget that all this gold will end up in Switzerland at some point anyway! Swiss Gold Good delivery my ass!
