Syria advances FATF gray list exit with unified anti-money laundering framework

Syria’s Finance Ministry is introducing a cross-agency committee to lead the effort to get off the world’s anti-money laundering watchdog’s gray list, Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh announced. The new committee will work on developing a unified institutional framework for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/ CFT), and will include various financial, regulatory, and professional bodies such as the Financial Markets and Securities Commission, the Damascus Securities Exchange, state-owned banks and financial institutions.

Why this matters: Getting off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list is critical to de-risk Syria’s banking sector. It would incentivize foreign banks to resume banking connectivity and could help spur investments in Syria’s under-capitalized banking sector, we previously reported.

REMEMBER- Syria is in line to get off the list — the missing piece of the puzzle is an on-site visit by FATF that officials there have sidestepped, citing security concerns.

A little breathing room

Iranian contractors operating in Iraq may soon be allowed to receive financial guarantees backed by frozen Iranian funds in Iraq, Iraqi news outlet Shafaq reports, citing Iran’s central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati. Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi already signed an executive order, with the access expected to begin in a few weeks, Hemmati said.

The mechanism doesn’t unfreeze the money outright, but rather lets Iranian contractors draw against it domestically, without it going through the US financial system. Iran holds an estimated USD 10-11 bn in energy receivables in Iraq — payments Baghdad owes for gas and electricity that pile up in restricted accounts because US sanctions block direct USD and EUR transfers to Iranian institutions.

The backdrop: The move comes after the UAE suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran on 19 August — a move that came after weeks of US lobbying as it drums up its economic campaign against Iran as an alternative to military action.

Expanding

Our friends at Marakez are entering Egypt’s Red Sea coast for the first time, launching SHAMS SOMA with Somabay. The project will reportedly involve a 100-feddan integrated mixed-use tourism site in Somabay, targeting as much as EGP 40 bn in revenue, according to unnamed sources. Marakez, a unit of Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Alhokair Group, has entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with Somabay.

What to expect: Marakez reportedly aims to develop residential and hotel units and commercial buildings. Sales for the project are scheduled to open before the end of 2026.

Why this matters: The move unites two players already betting on Egypt’s next wave of tourist-destination real estate. For Marakez, the venture marks an expansion beyond Cairo and the North Coast and into the Red Sea’s growing mixed-use tourism market. Somabay has been expanding both its hotel footprint and its residential offerings, with CEO Ibrahim El Missiri previously telling EnterpriseAM that the Red Sea is poised to become the country’s next major property hotspot, supported by its infrastructure and connectivity.