Anti-corruption

Bahrain is taking a holistic approach to tackling corruption by involving all members of society. This approach involves regular national campaigns and the use of a national anti-corruption hotline, Nazaha 992, which was introduced on International Anti-Corruption Day in 2009. These measures align with the Kingdom's belief that corruption is a major impediment to development, investment, and the provision of quality public services. General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security, which falls under the Ministry of Interior, is dedicated to working with the community to combat crime and corruption.

The anti-corruption hotline in Bahrain is a crucial platform for communication between civil society and the Ministry of Interior. It serves as an effective tool for encouraging the public to report suspected cases of corruption while simultaneously discouraging potential offenders by demonstrating that authorities take such issues seriously. Additionally, the hotline assures citizens of the confidentiality of the information and the protection of whistle-blowers' identities.

Financial disclosure is an essential aspect of anti-corruption laws as it obligates public officials to provide a detailed report of their financial holdings and interests. This information is crucial in identifying potential conflicts of interest that may lead to corrupt practices, including bribery and embezzlement. By enforcing financial disclosure requirements, anti-corruption laws aim to promote transparency and accountability in government, ensuring public officials act in the best interests of their constituents.

The General Directorate of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security actively exposes cybercrimes and investigates reports received via the Direct form.

The General Directorate consists of the following entities:

• Anti-Corruption Crime Directorate: This entity works to combat crimes involving public servants, as defined by the Penal Code. These crimes include bribery, embezzlement, exploitation, and abuse of influence, as well as bribery and embezzlement in the private sector.
• Anti-Economic Crime Directorate: This entity is responsible for combating fraud, breach of trust, forgery, and counterfeiting of currency, cheques, and credit cards.
• Financial Investigation Directorate: This entity focuses on combating money laundering, terrorist funding, and crimes involving the transfer of money across borders.
• Cybercrime Directorate: This entity is dedicated to combating all cybercrimes, including theft, email hacking and abuse, defamation, harassment, or extortion through electronic channels.
• International Affairs & Interpol Directorate: This entity serves as a link between the Ministry of Interior and the communication divisions and directorates of its counterparts in all member states of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). It ensures cooperation in security, intelligence, and extradition matters.
• System Detection Directorate: This entity collects information, conducts investigations, and prepares security and intelligence reports on all cases handled by the aforementioned directorates.
• Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
• Bahrain is part of the Financial Action Task Force (‘FATF’) through the full membership of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the FATF and is committed to the implementation of all international standards in this area. Bahrain is also a founding member of the regional MENA-FATF and hosts its secretariat.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC), through Anti-money Laundering Department, works with a strong determination to prohibit and actively prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, deploys the highest operating standards and laws to ensure that all its activities are undertaken within the legal parameters.

The Central Bank of Bahrain views the fight against money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (‘CFT’) as a key priority. In order to ensure effective compliance with relevant standards and to preserve Bahrain’s strong reputation as a well-regulated financial centre, the CBB maintains a Compliance Directorate, which is tasked with leading the CBB’s AML/CFT efforts.